The Eight Horcrux
by Battery Powered Witch
Summary: Voldemort lives on inside the shell of one of his most loyal followers, a follower who has an uncanny likeness to a certain time travelling alien. What happens when the now mortal Dark Lord learns of the Timelord, and begins to target his friends in order to get what he wants? Will the trio be able to save the Doctor? A body without a soul has room for another...
1. Prologue

** The Eighth Horcrux**

The mood in the castle was sombre, still the Great Hall lay covered in a mixture of mourners and their dead, the hospital wing was still going full swing, dealing with all of the injured. It was much quieter in the upper floors where Harry, Ron and Hermione were making their way up the staircase to the Gryffindor tower. They had just come back from the marble tomb where the Elder wand had been returned to its rightful place. The common room was totally empty, it was so much more peaceful than the rest of the building. Unlike most of the castle, it was left untouched by the battle. They each took a seat on the couch in front of the fireplace out of habit, as they had a thousand times before, though it felt so different now. For once they were not going to discuss the latest mystery that was just waiting for them to solve it. For once they could just be. 'I've missed this place,' said Ron, being the first one to speak since they had left Dumbledore's office. 'It certainly beats the tent,' Harry remarked, getting a small smile from both Ron and Hermione.

'It's really over isn't it? I just can't get my head around it,' said Hermione.

'Yeah, no more adventures, not that I'm complaining. It'll be nice to just have the quiet life for once, won't it Harry?'

He nodded. 'Definitely.' He absentmindedly touched his scar as he spoke.

'Is it alright? Can you feel anything?' asked Hermione, looking the slightest bit wary.

'No, it's fine. It's just a scar now isn't it? It probably won't ever bother me again.' His friends looked at him, not another word was said. Silence sufficed as the enormity of their situation sunk in. It really was finished forever. Ron took Hermione's hand in his, and she looked surprised and pleased. Harry smiled, thinking that this was now what his worries would consist of, whether or not he would feel like a third wheel around his two best friends, whether or not Ginny would still want him…Oh how simple life was going to be, how delightfully simple.

Throughout the magical world people rejoiced, it was reminiscent of the day he had first fallen, when the Boy Who Lived had been marked, but this was better, so much better, for he was properly gone this time, never to terrorise the world again. Even the muggles seemed to notice the difference. The mist that had been lurking around towns and cities for the past year or so had finally cleared, it looked like it was going to be a good summer. Already the Ministry of Magic was beginning to repair itself, Kingsley Shacklebot was the new temporary Minister of Magic and many Auror's were rounding up Death Eaters and putting them on trial. There would be a large ceremony for those who had given their lives for the war as soon as things got up and running again. Everything would be back in order in no time, or so everybody thought.

In a quiet, draughty old house, quite far away from Hogwarts, somebody was stirring. The rats that ran across the wooden floorboards suddenly stopped, almost able to sense something new in the air. The large lump in the bed that had been there for years was beginning to move, the blankets were rising and falling in a soft rhythm, whatever occupied the bed was breathing, it was alive. Awareness began to enter the living thing's head, it was more than just a mechanical being, it had a purpose in this world beyond just inhaling and exhaling air. It was more that just an it, it was a he, and he was a human, and not just an ordinary one either. He was a human capable of magic, capable of great things. Now his memory began to return to him, he suddenly knew what he had to do. Two large brown eyes opened, the ceiling came into view. The body of Barty Crouch Junior contained an active soul once again.


	2. Chapter One: The Blue Box

It was many weeks after the Battle of Hogwarts that Hermione stood in the kitchen of her parent's house washing up after dinner. She could hear them chattering away over the television in the living room. She had only just returned them to their normal state a few days ago. For one horrific moment she had been afraid that she would do something wrong, that she wouldn't be able to reverse the spell, but she had managed as Ron and Harry had known she would. Now they were back and safe, and proud of their daughter who had played such a huge part in the downfall of the most evil of wizards. She absentmindedly washed the plate in her hands, doing it the muggle way, somehow the menial task cleared her mind in a way that doing it magically just couldn't do. She thought about the end of the summer, and her return to Hogwarts next year to complete the final year and do her NEWTs, and how different everything would be. She put the plate down on the draining board and moved on to the next one.

She stared out the window, not really paying much attention to what was out there, until she noticed something unusual. Straight ahead, in the middle of the road, was a phone box. It wasn't red, but blue and wooden by the looks of it, and apparently it could only be used by police. She frowned, wondering how it had possibly taken her so long to notice something so conspicuous. It certainly hadn't always been there. She figured it must be some sort of magic, but what was it? And why would something magical be disguised so badly? It was plonked right in the middle of the road and those kinds of phone boxes weren't even around anymore. She thought of the visitor's entrance to the Ministry, the most similar thing to this mysterious box that she could think of. Her heart began to beat just a little harder than normal, what if it was some sort of trap? A bunch of renegade Death Eater's trying to lure her outside with this box? She dropped the plate and dried her hands, but didn't move from the kitchen sink, if this was a trick she wouldn't do well to take the bait. She reached for her wand and directed it at the box. She cast a spell, trying to reveal if there was anyone inside the box, nothing happened. Her frown deepened. There was either nobody in it or it was protected against this kind of charm.

For about another five minutes it stayed there, she returned to her task, though kept an eye on the box. Soon enough, her close watch paid off. The doors of the box opened, and a man stepped out. He was tall and in a brown trench coat. It wasn't the most wizardly of outfits, but if the box was trying to look non-magical then he could have been trying to emulate it. He stared ahead, at what Hermione didn't know, until a woman walked up to him. She was smaller than him, with blonde hair and a denim jacket over jeans. She stopped before him and they talked, though Hermione couldn't hear what they were saying. It was at times like this that she wished she had kept a pair of Extendable Ears on her, even if eavesdropping on personal conversations wasn't exactly the most moral thing to do. After a moment the man and woman hugged, staying locked in the embrace for sometime. Hermione was compelled to look down, feeling like embarrassed and intrusive. When they broke apart she looked up once again. The man took the woman's hand and both of them stepped back into the blue box.

Hermione expected it to lower into the ground like the phone box at the Ministry of Magic and so was surprised when it began to fade in and out of existence while making a strange mechanical sound, like somebody trying and failing to start a car three times. Once the noise stopped it was gone, leaving no sign that it had ever been there. It appeared to be some sort of Apparation machine, but what was the point? Surely it was just easier to Apparate the normal way? Of course she was curious, but it seemed dulled somehow, it was no longer as burning as it might have been years ago. She was surprised by how quickly the thoughts seemed to leave her head. She thought she would research it herself later, but there was no point in telling Harry or Ron about it, or anyone else for that matter. It was probably just some foreign witch and wizard with a method of transport she hadn't seen before. Besides, she had had her fill of mysteries for the time being.


	3. Chapter Two: Alive

He was hungry, far hungrier than he had ever known it was possible to be. He rummaged through the presses in the kitchen, finding nothing but cobwebs and the spiders and rats that were contained there. He made do with the rats, it was something at least, it sufficed to rid his stomach of the terrible ache within it, at least for a while. He greedily ate his rations once he had cooked them and thought about what he would do next, where he would go from here. So the worst had happened, he had fallen. The world out there was probably congratulating itself, even filthy muggles had probably got in on the action. He spat out a bone as that thought crossed his new mind, it was still rusty, this body having been dormant for so long. He had to admit he was surprised to find himself here, and faintly ashamed. How had he done it again, that insolent brat over come the Dark Lord? The most powerful of wizards? He remembered the faces in the Great Hall, fearful as he and the boy continued to circle each other, he remembered their discussion, the Elder wand…Had it been something as simple as that? A mere fluke once again? It was nothing but luck, as it always was. Well at least that was somewhat comforting. The boy wasn't stronger, he never had been, he had scraped by on pure good fortune and the knowledge that had been passed on to him by the most interfering of old fools, Albus Dumbledore. How else would he have found out about the horcruxes, or have known how to destroy them? It must have been Dumbledore that had figured it out, though how he discovered their existence to begin with remained a mystery.

He discarded his plate, now filled only with the bones of the vermin unfortunate enough to have crossed his path. He got up, intending to search the house, for what he wasn't sure, though he knew he had to get his hands on a Daily Prophet, he had thought he had left himself an Owl in preparation, he could send it out to fetch a newspaper off the street, he needed to know what was going on out there. On his way out to the hall he noticed a mirror. It was covered almost entirely in grime but he could still just make his reflection out in it. He stepped close to it, seeing himself for the first time since he had awoken from the charm-induced coma. Most of his face was now covered in coarse hair, like a house with an uncontrollable growth of ivy across its façade. He ran his hand across the beard, thinking it had to go if he was ever to venture out in public. It was bizarre, seeing this familiar face staring back at him without the demented glint that normally lit those eyes, it was stranger still that he now occupied the body that had formerly belonged to one of his most faithful servants. Still, he had served his purpose, there was no doubt that Crouch would have been honoured to know his master had taken possession of his body.

It was hard to get used to the dull, oh so ordinary brown eyes when he had been accustomed to the startling red that has inspired terror so easily, though he did have to admit it was quite nice to have a nose again. He ran his fingers across the bridge of it and stepped back from the mirror. He ventured upstairs, running through the last events he could remember. If that idiot Longbottom hadn't got to Nagini before Potter reappeared he wouldn't be stuck here in this mess, he would be ruling the world. As displeased as he was by this, he reminded himself that, despite all odds, he was still one step ahead. They believed they had won, they believed they were safe, giving him a great advantage, even if the obstacle that was Potter was still in his path. He turned the corner and ascended the second flight of stairs. So he had been rumbled, and badly, but he had returned before and he could do it again, this time without that old Headmaster and his protégée having any clue about it. Dumbledore, he had to grudgingly admit, may have known a lot, but he did not know everything, he did not know about this…

_'I'm sorry my Lord, to have to inform you…'_

_'Where is he Severus?' he replied, with anger that was barely contained. _

_'He's been Kissed my Lord. He intended to kill the boy and return to you Master, but-'_

_Voldemort turned slowly around to face his prodigal servant._

_'My most faithful, my most loyal servant and you allowed him to be Kissed?'_

_'I'm sorry my Lord, it was Fudge, he brought along a Dementor-'_

_'Could you not have stopped him Severus? Why didn't you free Crouch before the minister arrived?'_

_Snape lowered his gaze. 'I was under Dumbledore's watch all night my Lord, I couldn't risk him getting suspicious. I planned to help Crouch escape later, after the Minister had left, none of us expected him to bring a Dementor my Lord-_'

_While Severus continued to babble his explanations, a plan was forming in his master's mind. This was a blow, a major one, there would have to be punishment's deal out, to lose one of the only competent followers after having Potter escape from his clutches once again was certainly problematic, but still, this could work to his advantage, maybe it was a blessing in disguise…_

_'Where have they taken him Severus?'_

_The smallest of frowns threatened to crease Snape's forehead, but it quickly disappeared. 'Back to Azkaban, where the shells of the Kissed are disposed of my Lord.' There was a pause before Snape asked the question Voldemort could sense bubbling up in him. _

_'Do you know of a way to revive one who has been Kissed my Lord?'_

_'There is no such way Severus, even the most foolish among us know that.' Voldemort mocked. _

_'I'm sorry master, I just wondered-'_

_'That will be all Severus. Return to your post.'_

_Snape didn't move, trying to hide his surprise at being dismissed so suddenly, and without punishment for his late return. 'That will be all,' Voldemort repeated. Snape then gave a small bow and Disapparated. The Dark Lord soon followed suit, reappearing in the place where the Kissed were sent, thinking that a body without a soul surely had room for another…_

_ It wasn't long until he returned to the Riddle House, though not alone this time. He dragged the worse-than-dead man with him, placing the soulless being down on the bed, where he stared, glassy eyed at the ceiling. Voldemort performed the ritual, splitting his soul, encasing the rest of it in the man before him. Barty Crouch Jr. gasped, animated once more, though he was no longer himself. Voldemort stood over him, casting the final spell, looking into the eyes that were neither as dead as they had been after the Kiss or as manic as they had been while their original owner possessed his own body. The eyes soon closed, the breathing slowed, though still there was life there. Voldemort stepped back, pleased with his work. You could never be too well prepared, never too immortal. This body would probably never rise again, but still, if the moment called for it, he was ready. Voldemort left the house, his long cloak swishing as he moved on to the next order of business, how to get the Prophecy…_


	4. Chapter Three: Discussions

It was evening in the Burrow when the four teenagers sat close to the fireplace. Hermione sat up on an armchair with a book, not paying much attention to the conversation which had turned to Quidditch about twenty minutes ago and hadn't wavered since, Ginny, Harry and Ron still excitedly discussing their favourite teams and the last World Cup, again. 'I reckon you'll make captain next year Ginny, I mean, there's not much competition is there?' said Ron. 'I'm not sure I'd want to be captain to be honest, it just seems so stressful. Not to mention the reputation I've got to live up to, I'd hate to be remembered as the person who broke Gryffindor's winning streak.'

'It's all down to the team though isn't it? It was easy to be captain before because I just had you guys, except that day when we had McLaggen-'

They laughed, causing Hermione to look up from her book. 'Good thing Hermione Confunded him at tryouts, could you imagine dealing with that all year?' added Ginny.

'It would've been a nightmare! Actually maybe being captain this year probably wouldn't be so good, he's bound to try out again isn't he-'

'Oh God, there's got to be somebody else in the school who'll be better,' Ginny groaned. 'He's hell-bent on becoming Head Boy this year as well, he's so certain he'll get it.'

'Just once he stays away from the Head Girl,' Ron said, looking pointedly at Hermione.

'Who me?' she said, lowering her book. Ron scoffed. 'Of course you! It's a given isn't it? There's no way anyone else stands a chance if you're back at Hogwarts!'

Hermione felt herself blushing and smiled sheepishly. 'It would be nice,' she said, thinking of how delighted her eleven year old self would be if she did manage to become Head Girl.

'We're in good company Harry, sitting with royalty, future Quidditch captain and Head Girl,' joked Ron.

Harry nodded. 'Yeah, I might just have to pinch myself to believe it,' he added. Ginny threw a cushion in his direction.

'Oh come on! Coming from the Boy Who Lived Twice and the other Boy Who Destroyed A Horcrux!' Again they laughed, Hermione finally putting her book aside now that the sports talk had ceased. There was a reflective silence before she voiced her thoughts.

'It'll be weird going back, and being in your year,' she said, nodding at Ginny.

'Yeah, we're all going to look dumb as bricks with you around,' the other girl replied, making them laugh again. 'It'll take a while to get used to seeing Mc Gonagall in the centre of the staff table.'

Ginny's words cause a shift in the atmosphere, Hermione stared into the fireplace, feeling sombre, again the war had worked its way into conversation. It was the constant elephant in the room, the issue that everybody always skirted by but inevitably ended up speaking about. 'I wonder if the Room of Requirement still works,' said Ron. 'I doubt it, if fiendfyre can destroy horcruxes then I don't think the Room would've stood a chance, unless it's part of its magic to repair itself,' Hermione said. The pauses between words lengthened, as everyone lost themselves in their own thoughts. 'Did you see that article in the Prophet? About the memorial sculpture?' asked Harry. The rest of them nodded. 'They're thinking of putting it next to Dumbledore's tomb.'

'That's the best place for it I think,' said Ginny. 'Fred would be honoured.'

This pronouncement solidified this new tension even more. Hermione's eyes automatically turned to Ron, he looked down, staring pointedly at his feet, as if he didn't want to discuss this.

'How's George these days?' Harry asked quietly.

Again it was Ginny who answered. 'He's ok, he's getting by, but he hasn't gone back to the shop yet. He will when the time's right.' Harry nodded, looking as though he had something to add, Hermione waited, curious, but the moment passed and he looked away. In the silence the air in the room seemed to thicken, it was crushing, the weight of their collective grief pressing down on them. She searched around in her head for another topic, something, anything that would lighten the situation at least a little. One small sliver of information that she hadn't yet spoken of to anyone came to the forefront of her brain. She seized it with both hands.

'I- is there any such thing as an Apparation machine?' The other three looked up at her, looking both surprised and somewhat grateful for the abrupt introduction of a new subject. Nobody said anything, and so she pressed on. 'I've looked up lots of books on magical transport but I haven't found anything, I really do miss the Hogwarts library, it's so much better than any of the other ones I've been to. It's like they've got every book ever written, well every book on anything magical-'aware that she was beginning to ramble, she stopped herself and gave them room to answer.

'I've never heard of one,' said Ron, speaking for the first time since the current state of the school had been brought up. 'If anyone was to know about something like that it would be you.'

'Why do you ask anyway?' said Harry.

'It's just, something I saw out the window a few weeks ago. There was this phone box, sort of like the one outside the ministry but-'

'Was it blue? Did it say "police box" on it?' Ron asked, suddenly sitting up straighter than before and appearing more alert.

'Yes! It did! But how-?'

'I saw it!' he announced, getting quizzical looks from all of them. Hermione couldn't believe her ears.

'What?' said Ginny, 'when was this?'

'It was ages ago, it was- when I went to Bill and Fleur's. You know, around Christmas,' Ron said, shifting uncomfortably in his seat, shame still evident in his face over how he had temporarily deserted Harry and Hermione in their hunt for the horcruxes.

'What happened?' Harry asked, as curious as Hermione herself was. Ron began to explain about the blue box and the people who occupied it, the man who looked like a deceased Death Eater and the woman who could've passed for a Weasley…

_'She didn't know me Doctor, and the way she looked at me- what's going to happen?' she asked. So many things had been on her mind since the library, but this particular one kept cropping up. 'I don't know Donna,' he said, not looking up from the console. 'I don't know what to tell you. Her past is my future, that's all I know.' _

_'But she's not in my future, I'll be gone by the time you meet her again.' _

_He looked up, for a long moment they stared at each other. 'Let's hope it's the very distant future then.' She smiled, but it was a weak smile. Donna didn't like thinking about her own morality, about life without the Doctor. How could she go back, after everything she'd seen?_

_ 'Alright, where should we go? Where've you got in mind?' he asked, walking around the central control panel. 'Somewhere happy, I could do with a little cheering up.' 'Happy, happy,' the Doctor said, fiddling with different buttons and levers. 'What kind of happy?' _

_'Oh I don't know just, somewhere nice, like a beach or something.'_

_'A beach? Back to Earth? Again?' he said intoning that he'd had his fill of the planet for a while. _

_'Well there's hardly a Planet of Ponies and Rainbows is there?!'_

_'There's a planet with ponies and the occasional rainbow, but they've got their fair share of problems, and a lot of the ponies have dangerous mutations, you don't want to get to close to them. We probably are safest with a beach on Earth,' he said with a sigh. 'Let's just hope we don't end up in Norway.'_

_'Norway? Why? What have you got against it?'_

_She waited but he didn't answer. Instead of pressing the issue, Donna grabbed onto a bar on the control panel for support as the TARDIS kicked into motion once again. _

_Ron sat on the edge of the cliff overlooking the sea, listening to the waves crashing and the harsh wind blowing, tussling his hair around. He was immune to the beauty of the place, it could've been the inside of an old broom cupboard for all he cared, not even the most spectacular setting in the world could change how he was feeling. It had to be the worst Christmas ever, there was no comparison. He wondered where they were now, what they were doing. A part of him was terrified that they might just pack it in now like he had, give it up as a bad job, a lost cause. What scared him even more was that it could go the opposite way, that they would be fine without him, or even better off, maybe he had just been a weight around their necks, holding them back from finding the horcruxes, among other things... He was surprised by the sharpness of the pain that surged through him when he pictured them alone together, and what that situation probably would, inevitably lead to. _

_ He looked down at the sand, wishing more than anything that he could undo these past few days, that he could erase it all and do everything different. His tired mind was chewing this well worn path of thoughts over once again when a sound that was not just the wind and the waves drew his attention. He turned his head, trying to locate the source, and was greeted by a large blue box, fading in and out of existence, until it solidified and the noise stopped. He frowned, then stood up, drawing his wand automatically, fearing the worst. It appeared like one of those muggle contraptions with the fellytones in them, or was is it telephones? He could never remember, despite Hermione's and occasionally Harry's attempts to drum it into his head. He could almost see his father salivating at the sight of this thing, especially because it said "police box" on it – his latest fascination was with muggle law enforcement. It must've been snatchers disguised to catch people unawares, hopefully it was nothing more sinister than that. He raised his wand, ready to defend himself when it occurred to him that he could use a Disillusion charm to hopefully escape their notice. _

_ Just as he was about to do this, the doors of the box opened and a man stepped out. 'Here we are, a beach,' he said, looking around, his eyes finally landing on Ron who's heart had just stopped. It couldn't be- How was he here? He was supposed to be dead-_

_'A beach occupied by your long lost son Donna,' the man added, the man that had to be Barty Crouch Jr, though it was impossible- _

_Ron continued to stare, paralysed and dumbfounded as a woman exited the box and stood next to the man, hair as fiery red as his own. 'Oh ha ha,' she said to her companion. 'God it's cold out here,' she added, hugging herself. _

_'How-? What are you doing here? You're supposed to be dead,' Ron said, having found his voice. He kept his wand pointed at the man. _

_'I am? That's news to me! What's that you've got there?' he asked good naturedly, eyeing the wand and throwing Ron off his game even more. He had heard the younger Crouch was rumoured to be insane, but this wasn't quite what he expected from the man who had impersonated Mad Eye Moody for a year, snuck Harry's name into the Goblet of Fire and got _Kissed by a Dementor which meant he certainly shouldn't be standing here, asking what a wand was.

_'This is a trick, it has to be, you- you were Kissed, and killed…'_

_'Kissed and killed? Doctor what's he on about? Where are we?' said the woman whose name was apparently Donna. He seemed to think for a moment before speaking to Ron instead of replying. _

_'Is that a wand?' he asked with the expression of someone thinking hard. Ron stared back, barely believing his ears. He half wondered if he had lost his mind. _

_'Yeah,' was all he could manage. Something seemed to click in the had-to-be-Crouch-but-couldn't-be-man's head. His eye darted to Ron's hair and lit up. 'Oh! Oh no way! This is brilliant! Are you-? You have to be!' the man said, sounding positively delighted. Ron found himself backing away slightly and gripping his wand tighter. Somehow the enthusiastic response was far more unnerving than an outright display of aggression would have been. 'Crouch what are you doing here? How are you alive?'Ron demanded, trying his best to sound authoritive. The man's smiled wilted slightly, he looked puzzled, the woman next to him even more so. _

_'Crouch?' he said, taking his time to think about this. 'Crouch, Crouch, Donna help me out here,' he said, clicking his fingers, trying to remember. Donna frowned and looked at her friend as though he was mad. 'Barty Crouch! That's it! Is that who you think I am?' Ron's mouth remained open for a moment, the situation was beyond him, his eyes met with the woman's for a moment, somehow he took some slight comfort in the expression on her face that told her she was just as lost as he was. 'That_ is_ who you are…isn't it?' Ron asked, unsure himself now. _

_'Junior or senior?'_

_'…junior.'_

_'Huh,' said the man, taking this information in. 'Of all the characters to resemble, it doesn't get much worse. Well, I could always be a Malfoy I suppose, that wouldn't be much fun,' the man said. Ron's frown deepened. The woman seemed to catch on, she looked up at the man. _

_'Are you trying to say…?' she eyed Ron, her eyes falling to the wand in his hand. 'No!' she said, then turned back to her friend. 'Are you trying to tell me that that's _the_ Ron Weasley?' she asked in a whisper that carried. The man nodded. _

_'How do you know that?' Ron asked, even more unsettled now. It seemed these people weren't here for a sinister purpose, if they had been he was sure he would no longer be standing, or breathing for that matter, by now, but if they were not snatchers then what explanation was there? They seemed almost otherworldly. 'Who are you if you're not Crouch?'_

_'Oh yes, sorry about that. We haven't introduced ourselves, I'm the Doctor and this is Donna Noble. Sorry to intrude on your cliff here, we were just looking for a beach, but this is much better! I never thought in a million years I'd get to meet Ron Weasley!'_

_Ron felt himself blush, he lowered his wand slightly. 'Are you muggles?' he asked. _

_'Well, a Timelord, that's what I am, but Donna's a muggle,' he said, nodding to her. _

_'Oi!'_

_'Well you are!'_

_'But you don't need to rub it in!' _

_They exchanged a glare that contained no malice._

_ Ron looked from one to the other, feeling more relaxed now, though his curiosity was only growing with every minute. 'What's the box you got there? And what's a Timelord?'_

_'That's the TARDIS, it travels through time and space, and a Timelord is a Lord of time.'_

_'I'm sure he could work that much out for himself,' Donna commented, turning to Ron. 'He's a nine hundred-plus year old alien with two hearts.' Ron blinked, trying to digest this information while Donna continued to stare at him. 'God look at you! You're so grown up! And much frecklier than that kid who-'A sharp poke of the man's elbow caused her to stop mid sentence. 'Ow!' she complained, rubbing her arm while the Doctor whispered to her, 'you can't tell him about, y'know, the stories.' Donna still looked offended due to the poke, but said no more, leaving Ron wondering._

_'If you're time-travelers, do you know me from the future or something?'_

_'Something like that,' replied the man. _

_'So, you can tell me what happens? Does it turn out alright? Do we win?' Do I ever make it up to Hermione and Harry? That was the question he really wanted to ask, but he didn't dare. The Doctor suddenly became serious. 'I can't tell you that Ron, I'm sorry but I can't.'_

_ Ron could tell his disappointment showed on his face by the way the two of them looked at him. 'If I tell you about the future you might do something to change it. I can't risk it. How far along are we anyway?' he added, turning his head and looking down, noticing the small house in the distance. 'Oh this must be Shell Cottage. Are they here? Are they whole lot inside?' he asked Ron. 'What, you mean the other two? They're here as well?' asked Donna, her excitement building. Unless they meant Bill and Fleur which Ron thought was unlikely, they were bound to be disappointed. Before Ron could answer the Doctor spoke again. 'Wait no, we can't be there yet, the cliff- there's no stone,' he said, looking just beyond Ron to the edge of the cliff. The teenager frowned, feeling suddenly overloaded with all of this information he couldn't possibly process after having nothing for so long. The Doctor turned to Donna expectantly, but once again her face was blank. _

_'You look like you don't know what I'm talking about.' _

_'I don't, this is passed my- I haven't read the books I've only watched the films! The last one isn't out yet!' she said, exasperated. The Doctor's jaw dropped. _

_'What?! You're missing out on so much! All of the details!'_

_'I get the general idea of what's going on!'_

_'But that's not nearly enough!' _

_ Ron cleared his throat loudly in an effort to get them to remember they had company. They both turned to him and left their discussion hanging. 'Sorry. What when- what date is it?' asked the Doctor. _

_'December 25__th__,'Ron provided. _

_'Christmas Day…' the Doctor replied, again appearing to be concentrating quite hard on something. 'That's the bit after…,' he thought for a moment.' That's tonight,' he then said to himself. He looked up at Ron once again. 'Have you figured it out yet?' he asked. _

_'Figured what out? What do I have to do?'Ron asked, something familiar but long forgotten rising up inside him. It might have been excitement, a sense of purpose. The Doctor hesitated. _

_'Think about what Dumbledore gave you, and what you want the most, what you deeply desire above everything else.' Ron took in the clue, though it's meaning was unclear to him. _

_'What? What does that mean?'_

_'I can't tell you anymore than that Ron, you'll have to figure the rest out yourself. But you can do it, I know you can.' Ron nodded, his mind _

_beginning to whir away, devouring this new problem he had to solve. If only he had Hermione's logic…_

_'Alright, we should probably get going, leave you to it, we don't want to mess about with anything here, besides, I think you had somewhere warmer in mind Donna?'_

_'I was thinking somewhere like Jamaica, not the coast of bloody Cornwall!' Ron smiled slightly, half wondering if she had any possessed even the tiniest drop of Weasley blood in her somewhere. _

_'Well sorry, you just said "a beach" you didn't exactly specify-'_

_'When I say "beach" I think "warm"!' Donna retorted. Their bickering continued while Ron thought with a painful pang that this must've been what Harry felt like when he and Hermione used to have their disagreements. _

_ 'Right well, let's be off then shall we?' Donna suggested eventually. The Doctor nodded and faced Ron once more. 'Good luck Ron and-'he hesitated for a moment, then continued. 'Don't undervalue yourself alright? You're a vital art of this, you'd do well to remember that,' he said with a smile which Ron found himself returning, a small amount of pride swelling inside him. 'Goodbye, we might see you again, you never know.' _

_'Bye,' added Donna. 'You've done a lot for us gingers, more than you'll ever know probably.' Ron chuckled and watched them open the doors of the box. 'Bye Dr. Noble, Mrs. Noble,' he said with a wave. Both of them paused. _

_'Oh I'm not his Mrs.-'_

_'We're not married,' they said simultaneously, talking over one another. _

_'Oh sorry,' Ron said, feeling his face heating up. _

_'Don't worry about it, you're not the first one, probably won't be the last either,' Donna reassured him. Both she and the Doctor stepped into the TARDIS which appeared to be bigger on the inside from where Ron was standing. They waved again before closing the door, soon after the box made its signature sound again, it faded away before Ron's eyes. _

_ He turned away, feeling much more cheerful than he had before their arrival. He began to purposefully pace around the sand, trying to work out the Doctor's clue. _What Dumbledore had given him, _well that was easy, the Deluminator. But _what he desired most_, the first most instinctive answer that he sprung to mind immediately was Hermione, but that was long term, right now he needed to get back to her and Harry as soon as he could. How could the Deluminator possibly help? _

'So you're saying you happened to stumble upon a nine-hundred-year-old time travelling alien and his muggle friend, and it never occurred to you to mention this to us before now?' asked Harry, once Ron had explained.

'I meant to, but with the war any everything going on it sort of slipped my mind. I didn't think it was that important anyway. We'd sort of had enough on our plates with nearly getting killed at the Malfoy's, breaking into Gringotts and trying to kill Voldemort. It's only come back to me now that you've mentioned it,' Ron said, turning to Hermione.

'That must've been who I saw then, there was a man with a long coat, and a woman, she walked down the street and they both went back inside the box and it disappeared.'

'Did he look like Crouch?'

'I don't know, it was dark outside, I just remember the coat.'

'A long brown one was it?'

Hermione nodded. 'That's what he had on when I talked to him.'

'What was his name again?' asked Ginny.

Ron shrugged. 'He didn't say, just said he was the doctor.'

'That's weird isn't it?' said Harry, gazing pointedly into the fire. 'A man who looks like Crouch appears and doesn't tell you his name. What if it was just him? Crouch from the past who somehow got hold of a time machine. That Donna woman could've just been another Death Eater, they could still be out there somewhere-' he continued, anger and a hint of fear rising in his voice. 'Think about what you're saying Harry,' Hermione said, having to intervene before he got carried away again. 'It doesn't make any sense. If that really was Crouch then why would he have helped Ron? And you said you saw them at Christmas,' she said, Ron nodded. 'That was long before the Battle or Gringott's or anything. If Crouch had a time machine then I'm sure he would've gone to Voldemort's aid during the war. I believe this man's story, besides none of us have heard of any kind of transport machine like the one Ron and I saw, it must be some other kind of thing that wizards know nothing about. Created by Timelords or something.'

'So you actually believe that he's an alien from another planet with two hearts? That's over nine hundred but looks exactly like Crouch?' Harry argued, his temper reaching heights none of his friends had seen since the War.

'It's just like when muggles don't believe in magic,' Hermione argued. 'Just because we don't understand it doesn't mean it's not real.'

Ron sighed slightly. 'This is why I didn't tell you,' he said, somewhat sheepish as he faced Harry who turned to him with a deep frown.

'I knew if I said it back then you would've go off on one and start worrying about it instead of what we were meant to be doing. You weren't there, he wasn't anything like Crouch apart from the appearance thing-'

'No offence Ron but how would you know? You've never met Crouch-'

'And you've never met the doctor!' Ron retorted, leaning over to the edge of the seat. Hermione grabbed on the arm of her chair, gripping it tightly. She hoped this wouldn't escalate to the proportions it had reached the night Ron walked away all those months ago in the forest.

'He wasn't Crouch Harry, I just know. He knew things that we didn't, he knew what was going to happen.'

Harry opened his mouth and closed it again, he swallowed some of his anger and rounded on his girlfriend.

'What do you think Ginny? You haven't said much yet.'

The younger girl stared back at him, seeming to think it over. 'I think Hermione makes a good point. If it was Crouch then where was he when Voldemort needed him? And well, Crouch wouldn't wait around would he? If he had found one of the world's most wanted wizards alone and unguarded then he would've just killed him straight away, or at least taken him to Voldemort.' Harry looked away, appearing annoyed that she hadn't sided with him. 'I'm just saying, it seems like too much of a coincidence that an alien from another planet just happened to look exactly like one of the most hardcore Death Eaters,' he grumbled to his shoes. 'There's only one way of knowing for sure. If he was Crouch he would've had a Dark Mark, you can't erase those,' said Ginny. 'He had long sleeves, I suppose we'll never know,' said Ron. Hermione sensed that the topic was about to be dropped, but she wasn't quite ready to let it go just yet.

'Maybe we will,' she said. Everyone turned to her. She, feeling just a little self conscious, cleared her throat and elaborated. 'You said he knew what was going to happen Ron, that he said he knew us from the future-'

'He didn't say it really, just sort of implied it.'

'Well either way. Maybe he'll come back here someday, he was outside my window just a few weeks ago. He might be planning something.'

'Like coming to kill us all in our sleep because he's Barty Crouch Jr.' Harry's comment received a collective impatient sigh from the rest of his friends. 'Honestly Harry, you're starting to sound like Moody,' said Ginny, shifting her position slightly on the couch.

'No wait, here me out for a second. Maybe he didn't help Voldemort because he didn't want to, maybe he's just out there, biding his time because he wants to be the next Dark wizard-'

'Harry please, you said it yourself that Crouch practically kissed the ground Voldemort walked on, he loved serving him, he wasn't about to try and take his place-' replied a frustrated Hermione.

'Maybe he changed his mind. That's why he helped Ron, he wanted us to do the dirty work and get rid of Voldemort for him so that-'

'He wasn't Crouch Harry,' Ron interrupted. 'He can't have been,' he added in a quieter voice, sounding as though he wasn't quite so sure of this himself anymore. 'I believe you Ron,' Hermione said, in an effort to reassure him. 'You saw him, you know better than we do, and it makes sense.'

'It makes sense if you want it to,' said Harry, facing her, clearly annoyed by there reaction to his theory. 'But so does what I've said. I know we all want to think that we're safe now, but maybe we're not-'

'And maybe you're just being paranoid!' Hermione flared up, getting sick of this now.

'Maybe you just don't want to admit that you're wrong! You have been before! You were wrong about the Deathly Hallows!' Her jaw dropped, she couldn't believe he had the nerve to bring that up. Against her better judgement, she went one further.

'Like you can talk! What about the Hall of Prophecy? You were completely wrong about that!'

The words were out of her mouth before she realised what she had said. There was a moment of hurt on her friend's face before he hid it with a stony glare. Ginny and Ron remained totally silent, both of them at a loss for where to look. 'I'm sorry Harry, I didn't mean it I-' Harry got up from his seat on the couch and walked out of the room, Ginny wasn't far behind him. She called his name as she followed him through the hall and up the stairs. It was only Hermione and Ron left in the aftermath of her ill-advised comment. 'I shouldn't have said that,' Hermione thought aloud, then found herself constructing some kind of defence. 'But he was just getting so stubborn.'

'I know, he can't help it. I suppose it's nearly easier to expect the worst isn't it? That's what we've been doing for so long, it's hard to break the habit.' Hermione left her chair and plonked down next to Ron, stroking his arm gently. He looked at her, then placed his arm around and they both lay back against the couch. 'It can't be true can it?' she said, now doubting her own reasoning. 'Crouch can't be out there watching us can he?'

'I don't know. The doctor bloke seemed alright, like a good omen or something, but why _does_ he look so like Crouch? I just dunno, maybe we should stop talking about it.'

Hermione gave the smallest of nods, though in her head she couldn't but the issue to bed.

She thought, since Ron had given her so much new information, that maybe she should try an alternative method of research. There was always the muggle way of doing things, using the internet. She had the name of the blue box now, maybe she could find some information about it from the non-magical world. If they were what they claimed, then Donna was a muggle travelling with a supposed Timelord, maybe they knew more about time travelling phone boxes than magical folk did.


	5. Chapter Four: Old Friends

He detested this life. The unfortunate disadvantage to this particular body that was its familiarity in the magical world. He couldn't show up in Diagon Ally as a wizard that was known to have been Kissed and presumed dead. He couldn't afford to do anything to draw attention to himself, at least not at this early stage. His fragile body was merely mortal, this was his last chance, he had no choice but to treat it carefully. So here he was, reduced to wandering around muggle London, looking for one of the feeble minded beings that he could Imperius and use to eliminate the three nuisances that had only _just_ escaped from him before. That way he could have them out of the way and still retain his cover until he managed to find away to become immortal once more. He turned a corner, almost bumping into two ill mannered school girls who guffawed at him as he passed. He stopped for a moment, glaring at their retreating backs, wanting more than anything to curse them right then and there, erase those worthless filth from the earth they didn't deserve to stand on. He swallowed his rage and walked on, quelling his anger, telling himself once again that now was not the time.

'What was that man wearing?' Louise said to her friend. 'I don't know, he must be homeless or something,' replied Rose, looking back down the path behind them, the man no longer in sight. Both girls walked back eating the chocolate bars they had bought. They headed to the park, settling down in their usual spot on the swings. 'Did you see all those back to school ads on the shop windows?' said Rose. Her friend rolled her eyes. 'I know, as soon as we get out of there they're telling us about when we've to go back in again. It's only the first of bloody August, we've got a whole month left!'

'I know, I hate school,' Rose replied, crunching up the tinfoil of her bar and throwing it into the nearby bin. 'Yes!' she said to herself, happy that her rubbish had found its destination. 'Nice one. There's nothing worse than the uniforms,' her friend commented.

'Ugh yes, especially at of the start of the year, when it's still practically summer. No, I'm definitely not looking forward to going back.'

Louise nodded, discarding her own wrapper, though her shot wasn't so lucky. She got up, picked up the paper and put it in the bin, saying, 'What do you think you'll do after school?'

'I dunno, I haven't really been thinking about it,' she said. Louise sat back down and began to swing gently. 'I'll probably just end up working in a shop or something.'

'D'you reckon?' Louise asked. 'I'll have to go to college to be a teacher, that's what Mum wants anyway, she never shuts up about it,' she added, again rolling her eyes.

'Mum doesn't pressure me about college. She just says do what makes you happy, but I dunno what that would be. I've got no idea,' Rose eyed her surroundings, the third swing next to them that's seat was broken, the small roundabout that was covered in graffiti and needed oiling, to the streets outside the park, their pathways caked in old chewing gum and empty chip bags from last nights takeaway. 'I don't think I could find it 'round here though.'

'That's why Ann moved in'it? Her parents saw this place as a dead end.'

'I see their point,' Rose replied with a slight chuckle. 'I miss Ann, I've completely lost contact with her since she left. I wonder how she's doing?'

Louise shrugged. 'Dunno, alright I'd imagine, since they've moved out to a nice suburb. It's not all bad 'round here though. At least not for you,' she said, eyeing her friend with a cheeky grin. Rose frowned. 'What dy'mean?'

'Haven't you noticed?'

'Noticed what?'

'Mickey! He can never seem to take his eyes off you!'

Rose began to laugh. 'Shut up!' she said, playfully hitting her friends arm. 'He doesn't fancy me!'

'Oh come on!'

From just over the fence, Captain Jack Harkness stood smiling to himself, thinking it was time to take his leave. He watched Rose and her friend as they laughed and joked with each other for just another moment before turning away. Little did she know that she was bound to do so much more in her future than just work in a shop. He walked onwards feeling good about the day, but thinking it was time to get back to his own time, back to Torchwood. He walked along the street, retracing the steps Rose had taken earlier with her friend. He was about to walk down towards an alley so his teleportation would go unnoticed, when he spotted another familiar face. On the other side of the street, skulking away in the corner with a newspaper, was a man he knew. Of course the outfit was different but there was no mistaking that face. He approached his friend, crossing the street, glad of an excuse to hang around a little longer.

'Doctor! Fancy meeting you here!' he said when he'd reached the other side of the street. The Doctor looked up slowly, a slightly perplexed expression on his face. 'I could say the same,' he said after a moment, lowering the newspaper. Jack had the feeling he had seen one of the photos on the front page move as the Doctor put it away. 'What's this new look you've got going on? Timelord meets tramp?' the Doctor stared again, then an uncharacteristic laugh emitted from him, it was much higher and colder than Jack was used to. 'Something like that.' He looked closely at Jack then before saying, 'tell me…Jack, what brings you to this part of the city?' as the two men began to walk alongside each other. 'It's the weekend back at home. I thought I'd pay someone a visit. I've been keeping an eye on Rose actually,' he admitted, not sure how the Doctor would react to this. He looked up. 'Rose?' he asked. Jack nodded, feeling the need to be solemn. He hadn't seen the Doctor since they had encountered Davros, but he had heard through the grapevine about how Rose had returned to the parallel Earth once again. He promptly made a mental note not to bring up Donna. 'Yeah, she's so young here, still in school, can you imagine?' The Doctor said nothing. An idea entered Jack's head. 'You don't want to see her do you?' The Doctor gazed at him, his face unreadable, he said nothing. 'Maybe it's best if you don't I suppose. We 'don't want to cause any trouble for her. Besides, it's hard to get that close and not be able to say anything.' Still the Doctor was silent. Jack stared ahead, feeling as though he had just dug a hole for himself that he would now have to somehow climb out of. He wasn't used to the Doctor being this quiet, he didn't like it.

They strolled along until they reached the end of the street; Jack stopped walking and turned to face his friend. 'How're you holding up these days? Are you ok?' Again the Doctor looked blank, choosing as he always did, not to appear down about the circumstances life threw at him. 'Of course I am, I'm fine, why wouldn't I be?' he replied, sounding indifferent to the point of being defensive. Jack said nothing, only looked at him for a moment, feeling empathy for the friend who had lost so many. The Doctor stared back, his intensity far greater than usual, it was almost as if he could see through Jack, into his head, his deepest thoughts, even his soul. It was unsettling. 'Should we go somewhere Jack? A café or something? It's about time we've had a catch up.' Jack agreed, surprised by this rapid return to everyday conversation. They walked along, Jack telling the Doctor about a café that was his regular haunt in the present. 'Ah 1998, it's such a simpler time. Don't you think?'

'Yes. It certainly seems that way.'

'So where've you left her today? Some place safe I hope?'

'Who?'

'The TARDIS?' asked Jack as they entered the café, surprised his usually sharp friend hadn't cottoned on straight away.

'Oh, the usual place,' he replied.

'There's a usual place?' Jack asked, joining the queue at the counter.

'Yes. The car park, where else?' The Doctor said, looking at Jack as though he was inferior for a moment. Jack frowned. 'Is that really safe? Leaving it in a car park? What if someone tries to take it?'

'It's not much good to them if they can't get inside is it?' the Doctor snapped. Jack was taken aback, he didn't reply. The Doctor turned away from him, looking bad tempered.

'I have secure places I like to keep it on certain planets. I've got a designated place for it at home too.'

'At home?' Jack asked, becoming increasingly suspicious. 'Yes,' the Doctor replied shortly. The people before them took their purchases and walked away, leaving them next in line. 'Where do you call home these days?' Jack asked. The Doctor turned to him with that intense stare once again. 'Saturn, it's a fairly peaceful planet at certain times of the year.' Jack nodded, suspecting that all was not as it seemed. He looked over at the display counter and saw something that would serve as the object of his test. 'Oh look, they've got fruit here. Do you want a pear Doctor?' Without any hesitation the Doctor replied. 'Yes please,' he said, smiling in way that looked painful, as if he hadn't done this in years. Alarm bells began to go off in Jack's head.

He ordered their food, then handed it to whoever (or whatever) it was that was impersonating the Doctor. 'Here take this, you find us a seat. I have to go to the bathroom, I'll be back in a flash.' The impostor frowned, a dark look crossing his face Jack took off before he could say anything. Jack walked to the bathroom, trying not to move at a speed that would alert the impostor to him. He was already taking the phone out of his pocket as he entered the men's room. He dialled the number of the phone Martha had left for the Doctor to use and hoped for the best. It rang out several times, Jack saying 'come on,' under his breath and glancing at the door behind him. He probably didn't have much time. After another ring someone picked up.

'Hello?'

It was the Doctor, Jack breathed a sigh of relief. 'Hi, Doctor it's me, Jack. I've just run into you in London, but I don't think it is you.'

'What do you mean?'

'I mean I offered you a pear Doctor and you obliged.'

'What?! What incarnation am I? Is it after I've regenerated or before I became me?'

'It's not you at all Doctor. He's got your face, but he's someone else.'

The Doctor stopped his messing around with the buttons on the control panel. He looked up. 'He looks like me but isn't, it must be a shape shifter or something. Where are you? What year?'

'London, August 1st 1998, in the bathroom of Bergman's café. What should I do Doctor?' Jack asked, his anxiety building. As soon as he asked the question the door of the bathroom opened. He snapped around and saw the impostor standing there. He never heard the Doctor's answer, he lowered the phone automatically, the look on the impostor's menacing face sending chills through his spine. 'Did you come in here just to make a phone call?' the impostor asked. 'You could have just done it out there, I wouldn't have minded,' he went on, the light cheery tone contrasting with the icy glare. He stepped slowly towards Jack who backed away.

'Jack? Jack can you here me?' said the Doctor from the other end of the line.

'Who are you? What are you doing here?' Jack said, standing tall before the impostor, trying not to display his fear. The other man didn't reply, but he reached into his pocket, Jack held his breath, figuring he was about to die again. He gripped tightly to the phone as the man before him took out a wooden stick and raised it-

'Jack? What's going on up there?' The Doctor asked urgently, hearing nothing but muffled shuffling and static.

'Stupefy!' yelled the impostor, red sparks emitting from the stick. It was the last thing Jack saw before he collapsed.

'Jack?! Jack! Answer if you can hear me!' yelled the Doctor, just after the thud of something large hitting the floor reached his ears.

The impostor picked up the phone, and ended the call. He placed it in his pocket and gazed down at Jack's limp form. He grabbed the man's wrist, and both of them disappeared from the bathroom.


	6. Chapter Five: The Park

The Doctor glanced at the screen of the phone that had gone dead in his hands. He placed it in his pocket and turned back to the console. 'Looks like Mars will have to wait,' he said to himself, setting the controls for London, Britain, Earth 1998. The TARDIS took off and he held on tight, trying to rack his brains, what creature could have taken on his appearance and targeted Jack? What did they need him for? Soon the TARDIS landed, the Doctor losing his balance as it crashed to the ground a little more roughly than he had intended. He grabbed his coat, hastily putting it on as he dashed towards the door and wrenched it open, running out through the alleyway where he had parked and out onto the street. He spotted the café and made a beeline for it, running all the way there. Once inside he slowed to a power walk and headed for the bathroom, making his way passed customers. 'Sorry, excuse me,' he said, nearly knocking a coffee cup out of a startled woman's hand.

He opened the door of the bathroom, bracing himself for the worst. There was nothing there, it was completely empty. The Doctor looked around, he pushed open the doors of every cubicle, nobody there either. He turned around, looking at the door. Maybe he was too early, maybe they hadn't arrived yet. Instinctively he knew that wasn't the case. He picked his mobile from his pocket. The screen remained the same, Jack hadn't tried to contact him again. He left the bathroom, walking to the counter with purpose. He ignored the queue and walked straight up, much to the dismay of the other customers.

'Sir you can't skip the queue-' began the woman behind the counter. He cut across her.

'I'm sorry, I won't be long, I just want to know if there were two men in here recently? A tall man with brown hair and blue eyes and another man that looked, well, exactly like me, except for the outfit probably. They bought pears?'

The woman frowned, then opened her mouth slightly. 'I- Yeah there was actually, I took their order, but I didn't see them sit down. I'm not sure where they've gone.'

'Thanks, that's great, wonderful,' he said, then rushed off. He stormed out of the café, leaving many perplexed faces in his wake, thinking that whatever this thing/person was they couldn't have gone far, unless they had their own ship parked around here somewhere. Either than or they had just escaped from within the bathroom somehow. He tried to think of the creatures he knew of that could do this, then remembered Jack's teleportation device. If they had used that they could be anywhere, anywhen, how would he ever find them? He tried not to think about that, ploughing onwards instead.

He found himself nearing the park, a good enough place to park a ship he figured, running faster, until he saw something that made him stop in his tracks. He stood, catching his breath, his two hearts pumping hard, a sharp pain developing in them as he stared ahead. They were distant enough not to see him, but their laughter carried. Two teenage girls on the other side of the park, one with long dark hair flowing down her back and olive skin, the other with her blonde hair scooped up into a ponytail, younger than he had ever seen her…For a moment he forgot completely about Jack and his current dilemma. All he could see was Rose before him, Rose the school girl, Rose who had no idea of his existence yet. He was so tempted to go to her, just to ask if she had seen where Jack had gone, just to have a meaningless conversation with her that she wouldn't remember, so it wouldn't affect the future. But he couldn't, the risk was too high, and besides she was just a teenager, probably taught to be wary of older men who might approach her when she was unaccompanied by an adult.

He sighed, watching for just a moment longer as she swung back and forth, her hair blowing in the breeze. He attempted to move on when suddenly jumped off the swing, her friend following suit straight afterwards. They were on the move again, and coming in his direction. For a moment he contemplated hiding, but then realised he didn't need to, she didn't know him yet. So he walked on, much slower now, the girls reached the gate of the park and passed through it, now on his pathway, coming towards him. He kept his eyes on the ground, fighting the temptation to look up at her. They walked right passed, Rose slightly brushing his arm accidentally as she walked on, oblivious to his presence. She continued to chatter away to her friend as they strolled. He turned, watched them until they rounded a corner, his hearts squeezed once more. There was nothing worse than having a companion pass right by you without a clue who you were. The only comfort he had was that at least she would know him in the future. Donna on the other hand…He brushed that thought away. He was stalling enough as it was, he had to find Jack, and fast. He couldn't waste time worrying about the loss of past friends when another one currently needed his help.


	7. Chapter Six: Birth of a Plan

The Dark Lord rooted through the shelves in the storeroom. All ready he had knocked several bottles to the floor, though luckily none of them had broken. He was glad now of the extent of the preparation he had made beforehand. Over the years had had Snape provide potions and concoctions so that he could use them at will, but also keep some of them in the Riddle house, in case he would ever come to need them. Now his need was great, if only he could remember where he had left it…His frustration grew the longer his search continued, but soon it paid off. A satisfied smile played on his lips as he held up the bottle at last, Vertiserum, perfect.

He glided back upstairs where his unconscious victim waited. He pointed his wand at Jack, incanting, 'levicorpus.' Jack's body rose, then fell into the chair he had had placed in the centre of the room. He let the body drop with a clunky thud, then once again used his wand to create ropes which bound Captain Jack to the chair. 'Enervate,' he said, bringing his victim back to consciousness once more. Jack opened his eyes, taking a minute to observe his surroundings, then, as if on cue, he began to struggle. Voldemort watched, more bored than amused, he had seen this kind of display too many times to count at the height of the war, the novelty had certainly worn off. 'Who are you? What do you want?' Jack asked, seeming to give up on struggling against the ropes around him. His voice was also surprisingly calm and clear. He was smarter than he looked, especially for a filthy muggle. Voldemort didn't answer, instead he pondered what approach to use. He could always torture Jack to get information, reserve his potions store for another while, or he could use Legimency. He considered both momentarily. Torture could be thrilling, though it too had become tiresome. He also had an inkling that this muggle might be hard enough to crack. He had realised quite quickly that Voldemort wasn't in fact "the Doctor," and now he was trying to get his own answers out of Voldemort instead of just screaming for help or trying to break out of his bonds. He could be here for quite a while if he went down that route.

Legimency was a better option, he could by pass the tedious retelling of events by this man and go straight to the source within his mind, but as he had discovered earlier, it took a lot more out of him that it used to. He was weakened by only his small intrusions into Jack's thoughts before, and this task would be a lot more taxing. No, Vertiserum was best, and the quickest. He opened the potion bottle wordlessly and approached Jack with it. Again the man didn't struggle just frowned at the bottle and turned his head away from it. Voldemort forced his mouth open and poured the liquid down his throat. Jack coughed, then looked Voldemort straight in the eye. 'Ooh, you're a kinky one are you? Ropes and potions, what's your plan?' said Jack with a knowing smile. Voldemort stepped back and frowned deeply. He couldn't believe this muggle had the audacity not only to accept his punishment but to joke about it. 'Crucio!' he yelled, pointing his wand at the man who began to writhe in pain. He sneered, saying, 'not so funny now are we?' once he had lifted the curse. Jack said nothing more, just stared ahead, his eyes taking on a glazed over look, a sign that the potion was beginning to work.

Voldemort stood back, and began his line of questioning. 'Tell me Jack, who is the Doctor, where is he from?'

'The Doctor is a Timelord from the planet Gallifrey. He's the last of the Timelords. He is nine hundered and six years old, he travels in the TARDIS. He is alone now. He travels alone,' Jack said in a monotone voice, staring straight ahead of him. Voldemort continued his pacing, his excitement building, nine hundred and six, and still alive…

'What is a Timelord?'

'An alien from the planet Gallifrey. A Timelord has two hearts. A Timelord doesn't not grow old, a Timelord regenerates. Their faces change but they remain the same. Timelords retain a humanoid appearance, they travel through time and space. They usually travel in a TARDIS. They usually travel with a companion. Their race has all but died out, there is only one left, the Doctor, the Doctor is the last of the Timelords. The Doctor now travels alone.'

Voldemort licked his lips, excited greatly by this information. He had only intended to have a useless muggle to do his bidding, to carry out his murders, but this was far greater than anything he could have imagined.

'Are Timelords immortal?'

'It is unknown. There are rumours that the Timelord can regenerate thirteen times, others believe it to be more. Some say it is infinite.'

His pacing continued, his boots creating a rhythmic _thunk thunk_ on the wooden floor with each step. So he could use the Doctor, that was a definite, but how to find him…

'Who is Rose?'

'Rose is Rose Tyler. Rose Tyler is a human. Rose Tyler travelled with the Doctor. Rose Tyler fell in love with the Doctor. The Doctor fell in love with Rose Tyler. She is gone. She has her human Doctor, they are not on Earth. Rose Tyler is in the parallel universe, she is safe on her Earth, with her Doctor. Rose Tyler is unreachable.'

'Not even the Timelord can go to her?'

'Rose Tyler is unreachable. The TARDIS cannot cross the line. Access to parallel words is impossible.'

Well that was that out then. Voldemort paced more. There must be a weakness, some way to lure the Doctor. Oh to become him, to be a Timelord, rule not only the world but the entire universe…

'The Doctor travels alone?'

'The Doctor travels alone now.'

'Who these companions he travelled with before? Besides Ms. Tyler?'

'The Doctor travels alone now, but in the past he has travelled with friends. The Doctor used to travel with Donna Noble. Donna Noble is on Earth, Donna Noble is safe. Donna Noble cannot remember the Doctor. Death is eminent of Donna Noble remembers the Doctor.'

Voldemort stopped his pacing. 'Tell me more of this Noble woman?'

'Donna Noble is a temp in Chiswick. She is on Earth in 2010. She used to travel with the Doctor, she has forgotten. Death is eminent if she remembers the Doctor.'

Voldemort stood still, his mind working rapidly, he was sure he could go on, keep probing Jack until the potion ran out, but maybe this was enough to go on. The blood in his veins seemed to be flowing extra fast, his heart working harder. He could almost taste victory this time. Who would've thought it could be this easy? All he needed was the Doctor to become powerful again, what force of witches and wizards could possibly take down an alien that did not age, that would simply become a different physical being if anyone tried to kill him? Voldemort eyed Jack's teleportation device that he had cast aside, it all slipped so nicely into place. He picked it up, asking Jack what it was and how to operate it. Jack explained in his emotionless drawl. Voldemort placed the device on his wrist with relish before turning to face Jack once more. He noticed the discarded plastic rectangle that Jack had been using when he entered the bathroom, and another brainwave came to him. 'You can contact the Doctor with your device?'

'Yes.'

'How?'

Jack explained the basic function of a mobile phone, how to call and text to Voldemort. Had he been aware of what he was doing he might have found the situation humorous. Voldemort picked it up and followed Jack's instructions, cursing muggle technology for being so finicky and complicated, cursing himself even more for having to use it. After a while he managed to send a cryptic message to the Doctor. He dropped the phone into his own pocket and stood back from Jack.

'You have been useful muggle, more so than I can say for the rest of your worthless race.' He raised his wand to Jack's chest. The Captain remained indifferent as the incantation was spoken and green light filled the room, the curse stopping his heart. Voldemort turned on his heel and left the hallway, preparing himself to travel through time and space for the first time. He took a deep breath and pressed the button, his destination Chiswick, 2010.


	8. Chapter Seven: Lost

'I'm sorry Doctor, I wish I could be more help. I haven't seen any sign of Jack.'

'I didn't think you would but I thought it was best to ask, in case he somehow ended up back in the present.'

'What was he doing in 1998 in the first place?' Martha asked from the other end of the phone. The Doctor continued to walk down the path ways, a good mile or so away from the park now. 'I don't know,' he replied, then a thought occurred to him. 'I saw Rose around here, maybe that's why, do remember he said he used to watch her grow up? Maybe that's what he was at.'

'You saw Rose?' Martha said, surprised. He knew she would've honed in on that detail, forcing him to talk about it.

'Yeah, she was in the park with a friend,' he said, trying to sound casual. He stopped at a red pedestrian traffic light with a large group of other people, waiting to cross.

'Did she recognise- Well she wouldn't have would she?' Martha said, answering her own question. The Doctor swallowed, hoping they would get back to talking about Jack. The light turned green and he was off again, still trying to keep an eye out for anything unusual while simultaneously listening to Martha.

'Do you think she's safe Doctor? If there's something sinister wandering around 1998-'

'I'm not sure. If they were after Rose I don't know why they'd take on my form, it's years before we met, it doesn't make any sense. Maybe they were just after Jack. Have you been in touch with the guys at Torchwood lately?' he asked, rounding a corner and almost bumping into an old man with several shopping bags in both of his hands. The Doctor mouthed sorry and walked on. 'Not really, not since I've gone freelance. I'm really sorry Doctor but I've got to go, we're having a bit of a Cyberman problem up here at the moment. I'll call you back if I can find anything out. Let me know if you need me ok?'

'I will, goodbye Martha, and good luck with those Cybermen, they're tricky buggers.'

She laughed and said goodbye before hanging up.

The Doctor pocketed his mobile and ran his hands through his hair. He noticed a group of teenagers staring at him, he had a feeling they'd just caught the end of his conversation with Martha. He placed his hands in his pockets and walked on, feeling their eyes on his back as he progressed through the street. A moment later his phone pinged once again. It was typical, he rarely had much use for it, but once it started ringing it never stopped. He pulled it out of his pocket again and saw that he had received a message.

'Jack lives no more Doctor, and he won't be the last.'

Dread ran down his spine in chilling waves. Oh course Jack would just bounce back to life in a matter of time, but where was he? And who else was this creature going to target? He thought of Rose, young teenage Rose who didn't yet have to knowledge of how to defend herself… The Doctor stared ahead, then made a quick decision. He turned on his heel and began to head for the estate where the Tyler's lived. He knew it was dangerous, he ran the risk of totally altering their future, but this time was in flux, if he didn't warn her, if she didn't know she might not _have_ a future.

He had been running for a good fifteen minutes and was nearing the park for a second time when his phone buzzed again. He slowed down a little and removed it from his pocket, maybe it was Martha with more news, unless she was now in peril too, had he sent the impostor after her somehow by involving her? But his conclusions were wrong, it wasn't Martha at all.

'Doctor, where are you?'

'Jack! You're back!' he said, relief cascading through him as she came to a halt, grabbing hold of a lamp post for support as he caught his breath.

'I certainly am. I'm in Little Hangleton at the moment, this nice lady here's kindly allowed me to borrow her phone,' he said, casual as ever. The Doctor could practically see him wink at the woman whose phone he was using as he spoke.

'Little Hangleton, that sounds familiar somehow. What happened? I was sent a message from your phone saying that you'd been killed.'

'Yeah, I figured he'd do that. I woke up in an old house, it's practically a mansion. My phone was gone, so was my teleport device.'

'So he can travel to any time or place now,' the Doctor said, the situations always had to get worse before they get better. He let go of the lamp post and stood away from it. 'What else happened Jack? Tell me everything you remember.'

'He walked in while I was in the bathroom talking to you. He had this stick, a wooden stick and he pointed it at me and I woke up in the old house.'

'A wooden stick? Like a wand or something?'The Doctor asked, having to open his mind to every possibility.

'Yeah, I suppose that must be what it was. So, he forced this liquid on me, it seemed like a potion. It don't remember much after that, I feel like I zoned out. The last thing I remember seeing was this green light.'

'Green light…' the Doctor said, thinking aloud, trying to make sense of what Jack was telling him. 'Look Jack, stay where you are, I'll come and get you in the TARDIS.'

'Ok, see you soon. It's probably best if we meet at the house, we don't want to draw attention to ourselves.'

'Right. I'll get there as soon as I can, and, try to lay low while you're there Jack, don't get into anymore trouble.'

'I won't,' Jack said, probably with his signature winning smile in place. The Doctor hung up and headed for the alleyway where he had parked the TARDIS.


	9. Chapter Eight: Puzzles

Moments later he and Jack were in the bedroom where the chair remained, the ropes laying on the ground next to it. 'How did you get out?'

'Persistence,' Jack replied, 'I think whatever killed me might have weakened them.' The Doctor nodded, taking to rapidly pacing around the room. 'Right, what do we know? He's got your teleport device and your phone, he's after someone else, but we don't know who. Can you remember anything that happened after he slipped you the potion?'

'Not a thing, besides the green light.'

'Green light… I feel like all of this is familiar somehow, but from where? Where've I encountered this sort of stuff before?' the Doctor said, feeling on the verge of an epiphany.

'Well his weapon was a stick, it must've been a wand. Martha was telling me before that'd you've encountered witchcraft.'

'Yes but those were Carrionites, they didn't have wands. They used voodoo and chanting. Shakespeare helped us get rid of them using words-' The Doctor stopped pacing abruptly, all of the pieces falling into place in his head which cleared. 'That's it,' he said. 'Jack that's it!' he announced, turning to his friend.

'What's it Doctor? Oh I love this part, when you work all of it out!' he said smiling.

'It's magic, it's wizardry, it's their world Jack, the world of the books!'

'The books?'

'The Harry Potter books!' The Doctor exclaimed.

Jack frowned. 'You can't be serious, they're not real? They can't be…'

'Think about it Jack,' the Doctor said, moving around the room like a force of kinetic energy. 'You say a green light when he killed you,the killing curse, when it's cast a green light comes from it, the person's body is left unmarked. And you ended up here after you'd been in the café without knowing how, he must've done something-'

'There was a red light then, sparks came out of the wand, and he yelled something-'

'Stupefy! He stunned you!' the Doctor provided.

He raised his hands to his head, trying to put the rest of the puzzle together. 'Then you ended up here, without knowing how…he must've Apparated with you alongside him, back to here, this mansion. In the town of Little Hangleton! That's where I heard it before, that's where Voldemort's father grew up, Tom Riddle!'

Jack nodded. 'Jeez, I've been captured by a wizard,' he said, sounding awestruck. 'How many people can say that?'

Jack looked around the house, something beginning to dawn on him. 'Doctor, if were in Voldemort's dad's village, then whose house do you think this was?'

The Doctor was bent over a mantle piece, his glasses now on as he studied the cabinets. He turned back to Jack, appearing as though he was reaching the same conclusion.

'The Riddle House,' he said.

Both men stared at each other. 'What do you think this means? Who are we dealing with? I mean, what character?'

'I can hazard a guess,' the Doctor said, removing his glasses once again. 'But I'm not sure I want to.'

'Could this be before he returns? Before the Goblet of Fire?' The Doctor shook his head. 'No, it can't be,' he said, cleaning his glasses with his coat before holding them up to the light to see if he had done a satisfactory job. 'It's 1998, he's dead and gone. The war is over, everything's finished. It's supposed to be alright now, we don't know what happens until nineteen years later.'

'Then who's doing this? And what do they want from us?'

'I wish I knew,' the Doctor replied, stowing his glasses away once more. He stared into the space before him. 'Someone who's using the Riddle house after the war, someone who's using my appearance, but why? How do the magical world even know I exist?'

'Is there any chance that we're wrong? It couldn't just be another alien tricking us?'

'No no, I doubt it. Besides I've been here before, I ran into Ron Weasley once.'

'What?!'

'Yeah, just outside Shell Cottage, got talking to him, me and Donna-' He cut himself off, surprised by the dull ache that still filled himwhen he thought of her, and the guilt, oh the unbearable guilt.

He was on the move again, delving back into thoughts about the current situation as much as he could. 'The only think I can think of is that someone's Polyjuiced themselves to look like me.'

'Do you remember anyone stealing your hair?'

'No, though I do suppose they wouldn't have been obvious about it. But what for?' The Doctor said, becoming increasingly exasperated. 'Why would someone from the magical world want to look like me?'

'You can't think of any reason Doctor?' Jack said, in his smooth silky tone.

The Doctor gazed at him in amazement. 'Every moment in life is an opportunity to flirt for you isn't it Jack?'

'There's worse ways to live your life,' he said, flashing his brilliant white teeth. The Doctor shook his head and they laughed. 'Come on, we better get you back to Torchwood before someone kills you again.'

Jack obliged and they walked downstairs to where they TARDIS stood in the front hall. They got in the Doctor setting his controls for the present day in Jack's world. 'What are you gonna do Doctor?' Jack asked as the machine sped off towards the future. 'My plan is to pay a visit to the only three people that might be able to help me.'

'And I'm gonna miss it?'

The Doctor said nothing. In truth he would've loved Jack to come with him, he would certainly help to lighten the mood, but in light of recent events…

'I don't want you to be missed back at home.'

Jack gazed at him, noting how he avoided his eyes. After a moment he spoke. 'You're worried something terrible will happen to me and it'll be your fault,' he stated.

The Doctor mentally cursed him for being able to read him so well. The TARDIS stopped moving, they had arrived. For a moment neither of them moved. Jack let go of the bar and stepped closer to the Doctor who stared pointedly at the controls before him. 'You can't blame yourself for everything that happens Doctor. It's just life, that's just how it goes.' Still the Doctor was silent, he looked up slowly. 'Promise me you'll look after yourself,' he said. 'Only if you promise me you'll stop beating yourself up.' A small smile formed on the Doctor's lips, his sad eyes lit up slightly. Jack knew it would have to do.

'See you around Doctor ,' he said, backing away towards the door. 'You too Jack, good luck.' Jack faced him again, his hand on the wooden panel on the inside of the door. 'The same to you, I have a feeling somehow you'll need it more than I do.' The Doctor gave him a tight lipped smile and Jack exited the TARDIS. He watched it disappear, then turned his back on the place where it had been and walked on to the entrance of Torchwood, gearing up for his own adventures.


	10. Chapter Nine: World's Collide

**Author's Note: **Thanks to everyone who has been reading and reviewing so far, I'm glad to see people are enjoying this. The last few chapters were sort of a warm up for the middle part, here's where it's all going to really kick off. The trio are about to meet the Doctor so natuarally there will be some sort of trouble. Enjoy :)

'Do you think we should tell them?'

'I don't know, maybe we should leave it for a while. It don't want Harry to get upset.'

'He's hardly going to have a tantrum just because he's wrong about something for once.'

'I know that but- I dunno Ron, it just feels like a bad idea.'

Hermione swivelled her office chair back to the computer. She had just been showing Ron what her research of the Doctor had led to. After a few weeks of unsuccessful searches she had finally stumbled upon something useful. There was a website of Doctor Watchers, people on the look out for the man and his blue box. "_His face changes, but the one constant is the blue police box, believed to be known as the TARDIS." _There were several pictures too, most of them blurry and taken at awkward angles, but the box was in all of them, and occasionally there were some people visible too.

'None of them are the man you saw, are they Ron?'

'No. But it has to be him, it all points to him.'

'I know.'

'What's the screwdriver thing?'

Hermione scrolled down to were Ron was pointing and read aloud:

_"The Doctor has been rumoured to carry a device which is referred to as a "sonic screwdriver." It is a device that can be used for checking the properties of whatever it is pointed at. It had other unknown uses but the most common application is to unlock any door or lock."_

'So it's a bit like a wand that's only spell is Alohomora.'

'I suppose it is,' Hermione replied. She sighed, scrolling by the photos once again. 'It's so strange. It's like when I first discovered magic, it's a whole new world I knew nothing about.' Ron nodded.

'Do you think he'll ever come back to us?' he asked.

'I don't have a clue Ron,' she said. 'I should turn this off, I don't want to run up the phone bill,' Hermione said, conscious of her internet use. She disconnected it and turned around to him. 'We should let Harry know, just so he doesn't worry about Crouch trying to murder him in his sleep,' Ron said.

'You just want to prove to him that you were right and he was wrong,' Hermione said, laughing slightly. Ron's sheepish grin told her she was right. 'So what if I do? It's not often the chance comes up.'

'Oh stop it,' she said, hitting him lightly. 'You're just as smart as Harry and you know it.' He positively beamed at this and they kissed. She took his hands in hers when they broke apart and studied his face, his blue eyes, the eyelashes that were so white they were almost transparent, and his freckles, just as bright as his hair.

'Oh I don't care about the Doctor,' she said with a rough sigh. 'What does it matter? Just as long as he doesn't interfere with us I don't care. Why complicate life when it's finally gotten simple? Why don't we just sit back and have some fun?!' she said, throwing her arms back, suddenly feeling spontaneous. 'I think I like this new carefree streak,' Ron said, his grin even wider than before. Hermione abandoned her chair and sat next to him on the bed, where she kissed him again.

That had been over a month ago and not a word had been said about the mysterious man in the blue box since. He was all but forgotten by all four of the teenagers, that was, until he showed up on their doorstep.

It was another evening at the Burrow, just after dinner when it happened. Harry and Hermione were over again, as they were almost more often than they were home these days, not that anyone complained. Molly was positively delighted to have them around the house, as was Arthur. The three of them were in the kitchen washing up after dinner, Ron and Hermione bickering about House Elf rights once again after Ron had mentioned off hand how nice it would be to have an Elf wash up in their place, while Harry zoned out and thought about his Firebolt. He had just flown it earlier in the day, but now he was just itching to have another go on it. It was nice to fly at night, fulfilling those dreams he had as a child in which he had ascended from the Dursley's rooftop and drifted far, far away…

'They only like it because they're _made_ to-'

'Hermione it just is part of _who they are_-'

'That's the most ridiculous, small minded argument-'

'Shh!' Harry said, thinking he heard something outside. A red faced Hermione turned to him with a frown.

'What is that?' Harry whispered, hearing a strange mechanical noise. Hermione's jaw dropped, she turned to Ron who stared back at her knowingly. 'It's him,' Ron whispered. Now Harry frowned, looking from one to the other. When he looked back outside the window once more he noticed the garden had a new addition. There was a box out there, a blue police box… Dread automatically surged down through him, turning his feet to lead. So he had come, the man they had spoken of. Here was Crouch out for revenge. Harry put down the tea towel and reached for his wand. He turned and saw his two friends still standing just behind him. 'Should we go out there?' Hermione asked, still speaking in a whisper. Ron nodded, deciding for all of them. Harry followed them out, stepping cautiously, a sickening knot in his stomach telling him something awful would happen. He could almost see it, an outstretched hand reaching out of the door, the green light flashing again, both of his best friends struck down one after the other, and then death, after surviving Voldemort it would be his minion who was victorious...

All three of them stepped out onto the grass, lighting their wands, only Ron didn't have his raised, he was closest to the box and the least wary of it. He would be first, Harry thought darkly, trying to still his trembling hand. He kept his eyes on the box, though everything was quite difficult to see in the twilight, even with the aid of his lit wand. The doors creaked open, and there he stood. He was silhouetted by the light coming from inside the box. Harry caught a glimpse of the familiar face. It was him, it was Crouch, he should act before the man had a chance to…

'Ron! Oh thank God I'm in the right place, for a second I thought it mightn't work, that you're world might seal itself off or something, you know, all that magic to keep muggles out, I wasn't sure if it applied to Timelords. Apparently it doesn't.' Harry looked over at Hermione, she looked as taken aback and fearful as he felt. Ron was they only one among them who was calm. 'What are you doing here Doctor?' he asked, his voice steady and even. The man peered around in the darkness, as though trying to make out who was before him. 'Is that Harry and Hermione here too?' the man asked. Too uncertain to speak for themselves, they let Ron answer for them. 'Yeah, that's them.'

'Great, just the people I need. I've fallen into a spot of bother with someone from your world Ron. I think the only way I can get stop them is with the help of you three.'


	11. Chapter Ten: Impossibly Familiar Face

It was a chilly evening Donna found, as she stepped outside the door of the office building. Though she supposed winter was on the way in now, causing the bright sky over head to deceive her. She wished she had thought to take a jacket with her as she headed back to the car. Sean was home earlier than her today, hopefully he would have razzed up a nice dinner for them that would be ready by the time she got home. Her stomach rumbled at the thoughts of Shepard's pie, or maybe lasagne…

'Excuse me miss, you dropped these,' said a man's voice. Donna turned around, greeting by a tall skinny man with brown hair and her car keys in his outstretched hand. 'Oh God, thank you,' she said, taking them from him. 'I wouldn't get very far if I couldn't start the car would I? Thanks again,' she said, intending to go on her way. 'It's no problem,' the man said, then looked at her strangely. 'Do I know you from somewhere?' he asked. 'I doubt it,' Donna replied, although when she looked closely, she had a feeling she had seen that face before. 'Unless, do you know Granddad or something?'

For a moment his stare became intense, as though he could see what was going on inside her head, it was unnerving.

'Wilfred?'

'Yeah that's him!'

'Oh no way! We _have_ met before then, I was 'round your house. I'm John Smith,' he said, holding out his hand. Donna shook it, the name sounding slightly familiar to her. She had a vague recollection of the man in her living room once, talking to Mum and Granddad.

'Oh, Donna Noble, good to meet you again. Well I best be off, I have to get home,' she said with a smile, making to turn away from him again.

'Oh, if you're going home did you think I could come with you? Just for a visit? I haven't seen Wilf in ages.'

Donna hesitated, she really just wanted to get back to the flat and have her dinner. 'Oh eh, I don't live there anymore.'

'Oh, ok,' he said, appearing put out but trying to hide it. 'I could always take the bus I suppose,' he added with a small smile. 'See you then.' He waved and turned away, leaving Donna feeling guilty. She knew it would be on her mind all day if she didn't do something about it. 'Wait!' she called and he turned around. 'I can give you a lift, it's not that far out of the way.' He raised his eyebrows, unable to believe his luck. 'Are you sure? If it's too much trouble-'

'It's not, now come on before I change my mind,' she said, gesturing for him to follow her. He smiled, a charming pleasant grin and fell into step beside her.

'Do you live 'round here John Smith?'

'Yeah. I haven't been here long, I used to commute to work. It's much easier being here.'

'Where'd you live before?'

'A small village up North. It's an awful place, where everyone knows everybody's business, full of nosy parkers, I can't stand it there.'He said, his tone taking on an edge of disgust.

'I wouldn't think you're from the North, you sound far too posh!' Donna joked.

'I supposed I've traded my old accent in for a better one,' he said, again with that charming smile. He met Donna's eyes again, and she felt as though she was being probed by them, as thought they dug deeply into her soul. She looked away.

They reached the car and she unlocked it, both of them getting in. Her stomach rumbled once again, she was tempted to text Sean to tell him she would be delayed, but that would prolong her time with John Smith, something she was keen to avoid. She wasn't sure what it was about the man that unsettled her, but for all his charm and vigour, there was something strange about him, almost sinister. She made a mental note to ask Granddad how they knew each other whenever she next saw him. 'How's temping going?' he asked as she started the car and pulled out of the parking spot.

'Oh you know about that?'

'Wilf mentioned it.'

'It's fine. The company I'm with now is great, but they don't pay much. Though a little birdy told me I might be up for a promotion to permanent member of staff.'

'Oh lovely. Wilf's always telling me about how hard you work. It'll be great if it finally pays off.'

'What do you do John?'

'A bit of this, a bit of that. I'm a substitute teacher at the moment.'

'Oh, what do you teach?' she asked, turning to him momentarily as the car was stuck behind a red light. He appeared blank. He opened his mouth, but nothing came out for a moment. 'Astronomy,' he finally said, when Donna's car was moving once again. 'Astronomy? What like science and stuff?'

He nodded in reply. 'Yes, the science of planets.'

'Huh, that's something I wouldn't have minded reading about in school. It's probably really hard though. Speaking of planets, did you hear that thing a few months ago, about their being loads of planets up in the sky, I mean, our sky was gone, and you could see all of the other planets just floating about?'

'I can't say I have,' John Smith replied. _He probably thinks I'm mad now_, Donna thought to herself, though took some comfort in knowing that she wasn't the only person who had missed out on the strange event.

For a moment there was silence. Donna turned her lights on as the sky around them darkened. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed him sneaking glances at her every now and then. She tried to ignore it, but his persistence became distracting. 'Are you ok there John?'

'Yeah I'm fine I just…wonder,' he said cryptically, no longer bothering to look away. His sneaky looks now became one continuous stare. Donna found it hard to keep her concentration on the road. 'Wonder what?' she asked, swallowing, feeling her throat drying up.

'I know we've only met once before but, I feel like I know you somehow, do you know what I mean?' he asked. Donna couldn't believe her ears. Forgetting that she was driving for a moment she turned to him. 'Is this a chat up line?' she asked caustically, fighting the desire to laugh. He was unfazed, he shook his head, she faced the front again, only just stopping the car from swerving. She was bound to crash with this lunatic in the car. She was beginning to regret offering him a lift now. She would be home by now if she hadn't picked him up. 'No, I'm not trying to- I'm serious Donna. Can we just pull over for a second?'

'Why? We're nearly there,' she said, her impatience becoming only thinly veiled. 'Just for a minute Donna, I need to understand this.'

She was reluctant, but if he continued this line of questioning while she drove she was bound to hit someone. Besides, she could always leave him on the side of the road and let him walk the rest of the way if he tried anything. She pulled the car in under a bridge, a large orangey light shining down on the car. 'Sorry to make you stop like this but, don't you get it too?' she turned to him with a frown, but now as she faced him, below the light, she seemed to get an inkling of what he was on about. Her frown softened. There was something familiar about that face, beyond their five second meeting all those months ago. But it was as thought it was blocked, she couldn't access it, there was something huge in the way, holding back some sort of floodgate. He continued to stare at her, the brown eyes once again delving into hers. 'Don't you recognise me?' he whispered, his voice sounding pained. Her brain was working over time, getting caught up and tangled. She knew those eyes, of that she was certain, though from where remained a mystery, and something was amiss. She had never been pierced by those brown irises like this before, they had never made her feel so uneasy.

'Maybe this will help you remember,' he said in a low voice, and to her horror began to lean in, pressing his lips to hers. Had she been a younger, more impressionable woman, she might have been seduced, as it stood she was having none of it. She roughly shoved him away. 'Oi! What do you think you're doing?!' His mouth fell open in shock, he clearly wasn't used to rejection. 'You see this Sonny Jim?' she said holding up her hand, the engagement ring glinting in the street light. 'That means I'm off limits! And even if I wasn't I wouldn't touch _you_ with a bleeding barge pole!' she shouted. 'Got that skinny?!' he still hadn't moved, stunned as he was. 'Get out of my car!' she said, pointing towards the door. He remained where he was, his face being the only thing that altered. His expression hardened, he fixed her with a menacing glare. 'I said get out!' Donna said, not allowing herself to feel the fear that was bubbling up within her. 'That's how it has to be is it?' he threatened, undoing his seatbelt. Donna's eyes widened, she didn't even want to entertain the thoughts of what might happen… He reached into his pocket and pulled something out. She slapped him across the face as he raised it. It did nothing to deter him. He pointed the wooden stick at her and shouted something. A blinding red light was the last thing she saw before losing consciousness.


	12. Chapter Eleven:Trust

Harry caught sight of Hermione and Ron looking at one another. 'Can we go inside for a bit? I can't see anything out here,' said the Doctor. No one moved. Harry remained rooted to the spot, not sure what to make of the situation. If they brought him into the house he could easily wreak havoc and target the rest of family. On the other hand, he didn't fancy their chances in that blue box of his. 'Come into the living room,' Ron eventually said. 'Ok,' the Doctor said, turning back to his TARDIS, as though wary of leaving it behind. 'That'll be fine here,' Ron reassured him. They returned to the house, walking into the sitting room with their new arrival in tow.

Seeing him in a decent amount of light was even more alarming for Harry, who was instantly taken back to that night in the castle, where Moody had changed, where he had revealed himself to having never been Moody at all… He stood before the man, blocking his entrance to the room, his wand raised, He could practically feel Ron and Hermione's quizzical looks on his back, but he had to be sure. 'Give me one good reason why I should believe you're not Crouch's son?' he asked. The Doctor gave him a small frown, then something seemed to hit him. 'Crouch! That's who it must be! That's who looks like me!' he exclaimed, clapping his hands together once and looking around like a child who'd just been given both a new broom and a puppy for Christmas and wasn't sure which one to play with first. Harry's frown deepened. He did have to admit he couldn't imagine the mentally unstable dedicated-to-Voldemort Crouch appearing this way, unless his insanity had caused him to regress to a child-like state. 'Oh that's brilliant Harry! I should've known I could count on you for such on early breakthrough, although in a lot of ways it sort of leaves more questions than answers,' the Doctor said, still speaking to himself. He then turned back to Harry, eyeing his wand.

'Oh yes, proof that I'm not Crouch, right…' he said, appearing to mentally search for something. 'Have you told them about our meeting Ron?' the Doctor asked, looking over Harry's shoulder.

'Yeah. He doesn't believe me though,' Ron replied.

'He needs to see it for himself, alright that's fair enough. If I could only think- Well I don't have a wand, I can't do magic- Oh, I know! I've got it!' he said, facing Harry again. 'Kill me,' he said matter-of-factly.

'What?' Harry said in disbelief.

'It's the only way to prove it. If I was Crouch I would die, but I'm not, I'm a Timelord, I'll regenerate, I'll be back up in no time bopping about in a new body.'

Harry could hardly process this, yet still he didn't lower his wand.

'But that completely changes your biology, and some of your personality. You'll be someone else,' said Hermione. Harry glanced back at her, marvelled once again at her vast range of knowledge. 'I know, I know. Truth be told I don't really want to regenerate, I quite like this body,' said the Doctor, looking down at himself, flexing his arms. 'But desperate times eh? If it's the only way to gain the trust of Harry Potter,' the Doctor said, seeming to prepare himself. He bent his knees slightly and shook out his arms, then raised himself to full height once again. Harry balked at him, part of his mind telling him that there was no way Crouch would agree to this, another part telling him that it was the perfect manipulation, Crouch must've known that Harry couldn't bring himself to kill someone for an experiment, he was expecting him not to go through with it…

'Well go on then. You never know, I could get lucky at come back ginger this time.' Harry stepped back, trying to think of something to say to restore logic to the situation as the Doctor closed his eyes, waiting to be hit by the fatal spell. 'Wait,' said Ron. 'There _is_ another way, you can just roll up your sleeve.' Harry turned to him, realising what he meant. The Doctor opened his eyes, lowered his arms and raised an eyebrow all in one swift motion. 'Roll up my sleeve?' he asked.

'Yeah. Crouch had a Dark Mark, you can't erase those. If you're not him you won't have it.'

The Doctor was blank for a moment before his lips cracked into a smile again and he declared, 'Mr. Weasley, you are an absolute genius!'

Ron blushed and appeared sheepish. 'It was Ginny that said it, ages ago.'

'Oh Ginny, is she around? I'd love to see her famous Bat Bogey Hex in person. Anyway,' the Doctor said, taking off his jacket and coat and rolling up the sleeve of his shirt, exposing his inner left arm, which was totally unremarkable. 'There we go,' he said. 'Do you want to do a spell or something, just to make sure I'm not hiding anything,' he asked, addressing Harry.

The bespectacled teen stepped forward and cast a non-verbal spell, inspecting the Doctor's arm for illusion charms. Nothing happened. Harry stared down expectantly, still suspicious despite the overwhelming evidence. Nevertheless he dropped his scepticism, the Doctor had more than proved himself, he couldn't help that his face looked the way it did, although his uncannily similar appearance to the deceased wizard was a mystery in and of itself. 'Are you happy enough?' he asked Harry, who nodded. 'Yes, I believe you,' he said, lowering his wand. 'Great,' the Doctor said, now able to advance fully into the room as Harry was no longer blocking his path. 'What's happened Doctor? What do you need us for?' Hermione asked. 'Ok, it's a long story, but I'll try to keep it simple. My friend Jack who's from the future, was around here, he's got a time travel device too, but it's not the best, you get a major headache anytime you land somewhere. Anyway, he ran into somebody who he thought was me, but it wasn't me, it was an impostor. We thought it was some sort of shape shifter alien at first, but then we realised this person had just magic to capture Jack, the kind of magic that you guys use. So it's somebody from your world impersonating me. I thought it might've been Polyjuice potion, it could've been anyone taking on my appearance, but what Harry's just reminded me is that Barty Crouch Jr. apparently looks exactly like me, so it could be him, but he's gone isn't he? He was Kissed by a Dementor?'

The Doctor looked from one to the other of them, the three teenagers seeming to be digesting his bombardment of facts. 'Yes, then he was killed. That's what they always do when someone's Kissed,' Hermione said. 'Is it? Huh, they didn't mention that in the- Never mind,' he said under his breath to himself. 'So there's two possibilities, it's Crouch from the past pretending to be you, or someone whose been Polyjuiced,' said Harry, recapping. 'I don't know which is more likely, if it's Polyjuice Potion then it could be absolutely anyone, but if it's Crouch, I dunno, he must've- come back to life somehow?' Harry finished lamely, unable to think of any other option.

'Maybe he never died,' said Ron, from the edge of the couch where he had plonked down. 'Maybe he's never even been Kissed. We only heard that from Fudge. It could've been a cover up. Maybe he escaped before they got there, some other Death Eaters took off with him before Fudge arrived and they put out the Dementor story to stop people worrying. It's possible isn't it?' Ron said excitedly, turning to the Doctor as if expecting more praise.

'But Mc Gonagall was there. She saw Crouch get Kissed. It can't have been that,' Hermione responded. Ron's posture slumped the smallest bit at the rejection of his theory. She joined him on the other side of the couch.

'What if Crouch from the past has travelled through time? What if he's got a time turner or something?' Harry suggested.

'Time Turners only go back in time. Besides, they've all been destroyed in the Ministry Battle.'

'Unless he got one just after escaping, after the Quidditch World Cup-'

'It wouldn't matter, Time Turners _only_ go back. You can't go into the future.' Hermione said.

Harry now plonked down on the couch, between Ron and Hermione, defeated. 'What do you think Doctor?' Hermione asked. They all turned to him as one, finding him sitting cross legged on the floor before them, looking enthralled. Hermione's question seemed to snap him out of it. 'Sorry, it's just so thrilling being able to actually hear your minds work in real life,' he said, getting up again, dusting off his trousers. 'I'm as lost as you are I suppose. I just can't figure out what he would want from me,' he said, taking to pacing again. 'He must've gotten all of his information from Jack. But how did he know to target Jack in the first place? Unless he knew about me beforehand which is why he went after Jack.' He raised his hand to his head, pulling on his hair. 'How did you find your friend?' Harry asked. 'Oh he called me, the impostor, he tied Jack up and killed him-'

Hermione gasped in horror. The Doctor noticed this and turned to her. 'Oh he's alright now. Jack can't die you see. He just comes back to life, every time, it's great. He called me from where he was and I went to him. He's back home now. But after he was killed, the imposter sent me a message.' He reached for his phone, taking it out and handing it to Ron. 'Jack lives no more Doctor, and he won't be the last,' Ron read aloud, then passed the phone to Harry who read it and passed it on to Hermione.

'So he's targeting you're friends?' Harry asked.

The Doctor nodded. 'It seems like that,' he said gravely, stopping his pacing for a moment.

'I just don't understand it. He had to have known about me, to know Jack knew me in order to target Jack, and if he knew that much then surely he should've known that Jack can't die?'

He stood with his hands in his pockets, looking troubled. 'It must be a muggle born,' Hermione stated, handing the phone back to the Doctor. Everyone looked confused at her pronouncement. 'You think?' asked the Doctor, looking at the text once again. 'It's just a guess, but how else would they now how to text? Death Eaters hate muggles, they wouldn't know how to use a phone. Purebloods don't even know how to pronounce it.'

'Hey!' retorted Ron, stung by her crack against purebloods.

The Doctor seemed to ponder this, 'so it could be a muggle born,' he said wistfully to himself. 'Or Crouch,' said Harry. 'Or anyone with access to Polyjuice potion and knows how to use a mobile phone,' he added, feeling pessimistic about the vast range of possibilities that faced them. It was like the horcruxes and hallows all over again. He'd thought his days of unofficial detective work were behind him.

There was a momentary lull in conversation until Ron spoke again. 'Speaking of friends, where's Donna?' he asked, thinking a change of subject might help them generate new ideas. He instantly regretted this question when the man turned to him, an expression of tremendous grief on his face. 'She doesn't travel with me anymore. She's gone now,' he said, the calm in his voice forced. 'Was Donna the blonde woman?' Hermione asked, threading lightly, noticing like Ron that they seemed to have stumbled upon a sensitive topic. His eyes were on her now, and if possible he appeared even glummer. 'Oh no, that was Rose. How do you know-?'

'I saw you outside my window once. It was at the start of the summer. I saw the box, the TARDIS, and you were there, and a woman. Then Ron mentioned Donna so I just sort of assumed-'

'That must've been years ago,' the Doctor said to himself thinking back. 'Outside your house… I don't even know why we would've been there,' he said with a small chuckle. 'Rose is gone now too,' he said. Hermione shifted in her seat slightly, feeling mildly uncomfortable and sure that she wasn't the only one. 'But there both fine,' he said, raising his head up, returning to his more upbeat enthusiastic tone of voice. 'Both safe and sound,' he added with a tight lipped smile. The rest of the room was at a loss for words. An awkward tension remained in the air until the Doctor stood once more. 'Do you want to come out and see the TARDIS?' he asked, his eyes brightening once again, he seemed back to his usual self.

Harry and Ron got up, responding positively, probably relieved that the Doctor had cheered up again, Hermione lagged further behind, thinking of her first sighting of the Doctor, of his long hug with Rose, of how sad he appeared when her name was mentioned. She followed the others outside, in the wake of this mysterious man, a slight sense of empathy accompanying her curiosity.


	13. Chapter Twelve: A Witch's Sympathy

The Doctor led the teens into the TARDIS expecting to be less impressed than their muggle counterparts as they were used to such wonderful things. 'It's like someone put in an undetectable extension charm,' Harry commented, walking around the control room. 'Yeah, like a tent,' Ron added, staring up at the ceiling. The Doctor smiled. 'I do love to hear wizard logic applied to Timelord science, it makes me see things in a whole new way,' he said, observing their awe as they walked around. 'Make yourselves at home,' he said. 'I better call a friend, make sure she's alright. I still don't know who this person's targeting,' he said. Ron and Harry walked further into the TARDIS, beyond the control room. 'Wow, this is much better than a tent, this is bloody massive!' Hermione heard Ron say from the hallway. She smiled, half wanting to join them, but feeling the need to stay back with the Doctor for some unexplained reason. He returned to her within a few minutes, a smile that resembled more of a grimace on his face. 'That was Martha, she said she hasn't noticed anything, but she'll keep an eye out.' He put his phone back into his pocket. 'I know she'll be fine if he goes after her. She's well able to defend herself. Still though, I don't like people targeting my friends if it's me they want. If I just knew who this person was I could go straight to them myself,' he said, thinking aloud, sounding mildly frustrated.

She gazed at him, everything about what he had said so familiar. 'You sound like Harry,' she said. He turned to her, surprised. Hermione looked down, somehow embarrassed by his frown. She felt as though she had just given a controversial answer in class. 'He always feels like he has to save everyone, not that I'm saying-'

'It's alright,' he cut across, saving her from stumbling further over her words. 'I know what you mean.' He looked out over towards the wall of the TARDIS, as if seeing something she couldn't. 'I suppose I can't help it. But no matter how hard you try you can never save everyone,' he said, more to himself than to her. There was a long pause before he spoke again. Hermione wanted to say something, anything that might have a hope of cheering him up, but her mind was blank. 'Can you remember anything else about the time you saw the TARDIS? What date was it?'

'I don't know for sure but it was in June, and it was evening, I was washing up and I noticed it, it was right in the middle of the street. You got out, and she walked up to you and you-' she paused, then ploughed on. 'You hugged and went inside the TARDIS and then it disappeared.' He nodded slowly, concentrating hard, as though remembering. 'I can't place that at the moment,' he said. 'I feel like it's in there somewhere but, I dunno. God that was ages ago for me.' Hermione frowned, not understanding. The Doctor picked up on this and explained. 'My personal time line is fragmented. It's all over the place because of the TARDIS. I could start this up now, and we cold spend ten years visiting different planets and galaxies, different times and places, have all sorts of adventures, but we could still come back here to five minutes later, and everything would be as it was. Nobody would even know we were gone. The only rule is that you can't travel to a place that's been timelocked, parallel universes or back in your own personal history.' Hermione nodded, grasping this easily enough. 'If you went back to a time you've been before you might risk seeing yourself, is that it?'

'Got it in one,' he said with a smile. 'They don't call you the brightest witch of her age for nothing do they?' he commented, making her beam with delight and blush slightly. The Doctor stepped away, turning to the controls in the centre of the TARDIS. Hermione watched him, knowing that the question burning within her was one she really shouldn't ask, but she was unable to resist the urge.

'Doctor?' she asked. 'Yes?' he replied, scanning his control panel with a small silver instrument that featured a blue light at the top of it. Hermione figured it had to be the famous sonic screwdriver, though what he was using it for was beyond her. She threw caution to the wind and asked the question that she could feel herself regretting almost before she even spoke. 'I know it's none of my business but, your friends, where did they go? If they're safe then why aren't they with you anymore?' The Doctor put his sonic away but didn't look up from the console. For a moment she thought he wasn't going to answer and was about to apologise for her forwardness when he spoke. 'The only reason they're safe is because they're not with me anymore. Being with me has landed them where they are.' His voice was solemn. Hermione pushed her luck further. 'And where is that? They're not-'

'No no, they're both very much alive,' he said, still staring at the console. 'But Donna can't remember me and Rose isn't in this universe anymore. Martha's still here. She got out before anything disastrous happened, smart girl. Did the sensible thing really.' His flippancy was well performed, but didn't entirely cover what was lying just beneath it. Hermione knew she should stop there, but each question she asked enlarged her curiosity. 'Donna can't remember you? What do you mean? What happened to her?' He sighed, then spoke, the solemn voice back again. 'I had to erase her memories, everything to do with me and our time together had to go. She would've died if I didn't.' Hermione felt her throat unexpectedly tighten. She thought of her parents, of that morning she had stood behind them and performed the spell that would save their lives… The Doctor's eyes met hers, an understanding in them, almost as if he somehow knew of their shared experience. He faced the console before him once more.

'What happened Doctor?'

'It's a long story, and a complicated one,' he said, his reluctance evident. She said nothing and somehow her silence compelled him to speak about it. He told her about the Daleks and Davros, about the stolen Earth, about the meta-crises human Doctor and the Doctor Donna, all as fast as he could, in the simplest way possible.

'So she became like you? She became a Timelord?'

'She took part of my mind into her brain, a human can't take the kind of power. It's too much. It's like trying to squeeze all of your knowledge into an ant. They can't take it. Her brain would've burnt up if I hadn't done anything. By erasing her memories the Timelord energy is still there but it's dormant. It won't affect her unless she remembers.'

Hermione stood, astonished and saddened by his story. 'Is that what happened to Rose? Did she forget you too?' she asked in a small voice. He shook his head.

'No. She's in a parallel universe. It's still Earth but it's not this one. She's ok, she's got her parents with her there, and the human meta-crisis Doctor as it happens. It made sense for him to go with her,' he said with a small smile that didn't reach his eyes.

Hermione watched him, empathy flooding through her at a rate she hadn't known was possible. 'So she's got you, but you can't have her?' she brought herself to say. He blinked, his eyes falling to the console again. 'Yeah,' he said, still attempting to keep his voice casual. Silence fell between them. The Doctor cleared his throat, appearing to push away their conversation. 'You should get along, see where those boys have gone off to,' he said. Hermione nodded. She began to walk away, heading towards the hallway beyond the control room, but there was still one last question she wanted answered. 'Doctor?' she asked turning back to him. He looked up attentively. 'How old are you?'

'Nine hundred and six,' he replied. He appeared thoughtful for a moment. 'Nine hundred and seven soon actually. Can I get a happy birthday in advance?' he asked, grinning again. Hermione's lips raised slightly, and somehow this got to her more than anything else he had said. She fixed her eyes on the man before her, a young man whose true age could only be seen in his melancholic eyes. 'Happy birthday,' she said. After a moment she turned away, venturing off down the hall to see where Harry and Ron had gotten to, a great sense of pity in her heart for the Timelord.


	14. Chapter Thirteen: Outsmarting the Wizard

When Donna woke up, the man was before her once again, though this time he had his back to her. She quickly realised that she was positioned upright in a chair, and worse still, she was tied to it. 'Oh no, you're not one of those nut jobs are you? You're not going to hack bits off me and keep them in jars?' she said, surprised by her own daring. John Smith did not turn around straight away, leaving Donna time to get her bearings. By the looks of things she was in a bedroom, though a very old dirty one that looked heavily neglected. She expected outright panic to set in, but somehow it didn't. It was bizarre, she had the strangest sense of calm, as though some part of her knew instinctively that she might be able to get out of this. It was similar to what she had experienced in the car when John looked at her, it was as though whatever part knew she would be alright was connected to the part that seemed to have some kind of connection to him. But yet this Smith was crazy, there was something off about him that didn't quite fit with the déjà vu feeling he presented to her.

'Why is it,' he began, still with his back to her. 'That this Doctor has to befriend the most insolent of muggles?' he said. Donna, totally confused by this, had a feeling he was talking to himself more than her. 'What d'you call me?' she asked. He finally turned around, looking up from whatever it was that he held in both hands. 'What've you done? Did you knock me out or something? How long've we been here?' Donna asked, planning to ride this fearless wave as long as it lasted. He smirked at her. 'We've only just arrived my dear. I can get quite easily from one place to another with only the power of my mind, of my will.' Donna stared at him. 'You really are a nut job.' His expression became stony. 'You think mocking me is a wise move?'

'A nut job who can't take a joke apparently.'

He was really infuriated now. Donna noticed a large rat crawl through a crack in the wall, it jumped down and scurried across the floor. She looked away from it, far more intimated by it's presence in the room that then man's. She raised her eyes back to him again, sizing him up, thinking she could easily knock him out with her fist if he got near enough, though the ropes restricted the use of her hands. Still, a well timed head butt might do the trick. 'I'm warning you muggle, don't push me.'

'You changed your tune quickly, you go from being all flirty and seductive to calling me "muggle," what's that about? Are you some sort of loony who thinks all that magic stuff's real?'

The smirk returned. John Smith turned slightly, locating the rat on the floor. 'You don't believe in magic Miss Noble?' he said, taking out a wooden stick and pointing it at the rat. Donna frowned. 'Crucio!' said John Smith, causing the rat to roll around on the floor, writhing and twitching in agony. Goosebumps began to crop up on Donna's arms. Fear was working its way in now. She noted the look of pleasure on John Smith's face as he tortured the helpless animal. It was positively demonic, he delighted in the sadistic endeavour. 'Stop it!' Donna demanded when she couldn't take it anymore. John Smith stopped, turning back to her, a satisfied glint in his eyes. 'Unless you want that to happen to you, I suggest you keep the jokes to a minimum.' She was shaken, but still she spoke. 'What are you?' she asked. 'A being far superior to you Miss Noble,' was all he said. He looked down then, lifting up the mobile and typing into it. It was so incongruous, seeing this man who had just tormented an animal with a wooden stick that had to have been a wand, now using a mobile phone. Donna looked down at the floor, trying to make sense of the situation. This wasn't just an ordinary psycho, it was one who could apparently perform magic, so where did that leave her? What was his plan? She wasn't sure she wanted to think about it, feeling nauseated by how helpless she was.

The next ten minutes were particularly uneventful. Donna sat still, trying to think of how to escape while John Smith stood there with the phone in his hands, becoming increasingly frustrated. For the last few minutes, vile swearwords emitted from him every now and then and he frowned at the device in his hands. He seemed to be losing patience with it rather quickly and it culminated with him throwing the phone to the floor shouting, 'useless stupid muggle machine!' The phone bounced, cracking open, the battery falling out, the front and back casing lying next to it on the floor. John Smith stared down at it, enraged. Donna couldn't help herself from saying, 'no offence mate, but how can you torture a poor little mouse with a wooden stick and not even be able to work a mobile?' He turned on her, fuming, raising his wand to her. 'Don't you dare mock me you filth! You worthless scum!'

'Sorry sorry! I didn't mean it! I swear! Just don't hurt me please!' she begged, automatically trying to raise her hands despite the restraints holding them down. He hesitated for a moment. Donna hazarded an attempt at negotiation.

'Hey look, I could help you. I've got a phone, if you just tell me what, you're, you know, stuck with, I might be able to fix it,' she said, trying to phrase it in such a way that he didn't think she was belittling him. His hesitation grew and he soon lowered the wand. 'Reparo,' he said, making the phone pieces join back together again. 'Accio phone,' he then said, and it flew into his open hand. 'Huh, that's handy isn't it? Saves you the bother of bending down,' she said nervously. Donna wasn't sure but she had a feeling she had something similar happen in a Harry Potter movie. 'Did anyone ever tell you talk too much for your own good?' John Smith said, walking closer to her. 'I can't help it can I? As soon as something comes into my head I just have to get it out. I can't just have it sitting there inside, eating away at me.'

'Well maybe it's something you should try,' he replied, not hiding his irritation. Donna ignored this and pressed on.

'Right, what are you trying to do?' she asked, oddly reminded of when she had taught Granddad how to email. John Smith huffed a little, still clearing having issues about asking who he deemed an inferior being for help. 'I want to send a message,' he said through gritted teeth. 'Ok,' Donna said patiently, trying her best not to fall into to being patronising. 'Go into messages.' John Smith attempted to do this. He looked around the screen with a deep frown, trying to find the right button. Donna could see where it was from where she was standing, but only intervened when he began to swear out of frustration again.

The whole process was this slow. About five minutes later he was almost halfway through the message when he accidentally deleted it. He threw a full on tantrum, pointing his wand at random objects and sending them to the floor in his rage. Donna waited until he had calmed somewhat before speaking, not wanting to fall under his line of fire. 'Hey, take it easy. Look I can do it if you want, you've more important things to be doing don't you? You don't need to bother about doing a stupid little thing like this when you've got me to do it for you.' Again he hesitated, seeming to think this over. He shot her with that intense stare again, and something seemed to click. If it felt like he was reaching into her mind, then maybe that's what he was doing… Before fear could take hold she forced herself to think of something that had nothing to do with here or how much she wanted to escape. She thought of Sean, remembering the day he proposed to her. She didn't move an inch, keeping her eyes focused on John Smith while she tried to concentrate on the memory. She recalled what they were wearing down to every last item, she thought about the weather, about the exact words Sean had said- The intensity wore off. John Smith had stopped whatever he was doing. His eyes narrowed the slightest bit as he looked at Donna, but he said nothing about the memory he had probably just witnessed, or what she was using it to cover.

'Do it,' he said, holding out the phone to her. She glanced at it, saying warily, 'I'll need my hands.' John Smith seemed to realise this too. He sighed heavily and grinded his teeth together before grudgingly removing the ropes with his wand. Donna flexed her arms the slightest bit and took the phone from him, trying to appear casual, to ensure that he knew she wasn't going to try and escape. 'Ok, what do you want me to write?' she asked. He didn't take his eyes off of her as he said it. 'She will remember you, Doctor,' he said. It meant absolutely nothing to Donna who typed it into the phone in no time, it was only once she had completed the message that she figured she might be the subject of it. She tried to show know sign of this on her face, thinking she would only be safe in speaking again once John Smith had the phone back in his hands. 'And who am I sending it to?'

'The Doctor.'

'Which doctor is this?' she asked, scrolling through the phonebook. 'It's simply "the Doctor",' he replied. She reached the name in the phonebook. 'Oh, so it is,' she said, sending the message. She held out the phone to John Smith who snatched it from her greedily, pressing buttons, probably trying to see that she had done as she had been told. 'Very well Miss Noble. I can see muggles do have other uses, perhaps they will make a good race of slaves one day.' Muggles, that was from Harry Potter as well, now that she thought of it…

'Who's this Doctor bloke? And who's gonna remember him?' This made John Smith smirk widely. Donna knew she had an advantage now, she was untied, if she could only make him stand just before her, she could probably swing a good punch in his direction. 'Oh Miss Noble, how little knowledge exists in that head of yours. What a funny thing memory is.'

'It's about me isn't it? The message,' she asked.

John Smith looked up, surprised that she had worked this out. 'But the Doctor, that title means nothing to me. I don't know anyone who works in medicine.' John Smith's face altered with curiosity. 'I've never known anyone who only has a title, but not a name.' His eyes began to narrow. Donna looked into them, determined to pull off a convincing performance, her life probably depended on it. 'I think this is a trick,' she said, causing John Smith to frown. 'I don't think there is a Doctor, I think you want me to remember _you_ John Smith, but that's not really who you are is it?' she slowly rose from her chair, again every movement was slow and silky, he couldn't think she was trying to escape.

'Is that why you took me here? Because of what happened in my car? You're trying to get me to remember something, but I don't know quite what it is John, I can't figure out who you are,' she said, trying not to over do it, to raise his suspicions. John stepped closer to her, a mixture of confusion and something else on his face. He was still trying to work out if this was a game or not. 'Who are you John? Why do I feel like you meant something to me?' she said, drawing on the soaps, the movies, anything that would make him believe she was a damsel in distress seeking saviour from her true love. He was still getting closer, one step at his time, his boots quieter now on the wooden floor. 'Get over here and help me remember,' she told him. Whatever scepticism remained on his face now washed away. He approached faster now, a triumphant, self-satisfied grin on his face. Donna readied herself and just as he placed his hands on her hips and closed his eyes to kiss her, she threw all of her weight into her right arm and punched him hard in the face. He fell back, grabbing the bridge of his nose and cursing her for good measure. Donna ran from him, noticing his wand had fallen from his hand with the force of her knock. She scooped it from the floor and continued to run away. She glanced back, seeing him wipe the blood from his nose as he turned around. 'Now I remember the advantages of not having a nose,' he mumbled to himself, glancing at the blood that had come away on his hand before beginning to charge after her.

Donna didn't stick around. She wrenched open the door and pelted away through the hall, reaching the stairs when he began to catch up. She panicked, then decided to try her luck hurling spells at him. 'Abracadabra! Swiddle swaddle! Boom!' she said, aiming the wand at him as she attempted to run backwards, wishing she could remember at least one of the spells from the Harry Potter films, they seemed to work for him…'What are you saying you incompetent fool?!' he yelled, no longer that far behind. Donna reached the stairs and hurtled down them, only turning around when she reached the bottom. 'Not so strong without this eh magic boy?!' she jeered, on the move again as he began his descend the staircase. Donna was almost at the front door when something stopped her. John Smith had just somehow appeared right in front of the door, blocking her exit. She screamed and backed away, cornered now.

She raised the wand, pointing it at him, her heart pounding. 'Crushio!' she said, trying to emulate the spell he had used earlier. Nothing happened, John Smith began to laugh at her, a high, cold laugh that sounded almost inhuman. 'Come on you idiot muggle, what else have you got?' he taunted, the messy bloodstains on his face adding to his threatening appearance. Donna tried to concentrate her hardest, hoping that be sheer might she could force a spell out of the wand that would force him out of the way. She thought hard, what was it they said when they knocked people out in the films? They Stunned them, but what did they say?

'Stun! Stun! Stunicious maxima!' she yelled, jabbing the wand at him with no results except causing him to laugh loudly and cruelly at her expense.

'Expellitaruim! Stunify! Stun-a-kiss!' she could seem him tiring of this now, soon he would attack. Donna gave it her last shot.

'Alohomora?'

She felt the wand heat up beneath her, the sensation of something shooting out through it, though the force of her spell only caused the door behind him to swing open on it's hinges feebly, before shutting itself again. Her stomach dropped like a stone and a moment later she was pinned up against the wall, the wand having fallen from her hand to the floor beneath her. All she could see was his face before her, she could smell the blood that still oozed from his nose. She only hoped that her death would be quick and painless, and that this sick man wouldn't get away with it.

'You've got nerve muggle,' he told her, pulling her hair back and forcing her to look at him. 'More than is good for you. You're gonna pay for that, and so is your friend. So is your beloved Doctor.' He slammed her head against the wall, she could already feel the bruise forming as she slide down to the floor. He retrieved the wand and pointed it at her saying the incantation and causing the light to go out. As far as Donna knew, the Earth was no more.


	15. Chapter Fourteen: Before She Left

_'Are you alright Doctor?'_

_'I'm always alright.'_

_'Is that a special Timelord way of saying "I'm really not alright at all"?'_

_'Why?'_

_'Because I'm alright too.'_

The Doctor stared ahead, consumed by memories that he didn't want to think about, worrying about which of them he had gone after, Donna, Martha or Rose. But it could've always been someone else entirely. The impostor had a teleportation device. He could've gone after anyone of the Doctor's former travelling companions, though if he had gotten his information from Jack it was likely to be one of the more recent ones. His gut instinct told him it was Rose in 1998, he wished reached the Tyler's house and warned Jackie at least before Jack had phoned him. Thinking of the Tyler's brought back what Hermione had said earlier, about how she had seen him and Rose outside her window, and slowly something was falling back into place, he recalled the middle class neighbourhood, the cool evening breeze and the sound of the leaves gently rustling…

_She walked back down the sheet, glancing back at the house one last time. 'You look so much older Rose,' Ann had said. 'Yeah, I dunno, must be city life or something.' She hated that she couldn't explain, it was the last conversation they would ever get to have and she couldn't say anything important. She turned and walked on, heading back to the TARDIS which stood in the middle of the street. The sight of it raised her spirits the slightest bit. He must've sensed her approach somehow, his head peeped out as she neared the police box. He stepped out to greet her. 'So, that's that then,' she said, stopping just short of him._

_ 'How was she?' _

_'Good, fine. It was sort of hard to explain why I'm older,' Rose said with a slight laugh that lacked heart. A dark look crossed his face. 'You didn't tell her anything did you?'_

_'No, I've been travelling with you long enough to know the rules.' _

_There was a pause. She wished she could store it somehow, she wanted to save the last moment with one of her best childhood friends, protect it and keep it forever. She was surprised by just how upset all of it made her feel. 'Are you alright?' he asked, stepping closer, concern in his brown eyes. She remembered when they were grey, and how long ago that had been. She could hardly think back to a time before she had known him, when she remained in her own time, oblivious to all of the other planets filled with different creatures she had never even known existed. 'Yeah,' she lied with a sigh. She could tell he didn't believe her. _

_'You sure?' _

_She hesitated, then said what she hadn't intended to. 'How do you do it? I thought it would be better, to get the chance to do something I never could otherwise, but-, I mean, talking to her, knowing it's the last time, that she won't even be around in a few weeks, that I'll never get to talk to her again, and I can't say anything.' She shook her head. 'All of these goodbyes Doctor, it must drive you mad.' _

_'Well, after more than nine hundred years you get used to it,' he was with a sardonic smile that didn't reach his eyes. _

_'But it never gets any easier does it?'_

_'No.'_

_Their gazed held, her heart was heavy, and she wondered what the weight of two hearts must feel like, hearts that had probably been broken thousands of times over. He stepped closer and pulled her into a hug. She held off letting go for the longest time. She couldn't even imagine anything beyond this, there was no future she could envision in which she didn't travel through time and space with the Doctor, but somewhere in the back of her mind she acknowledged that this couldn't be forever. She would die at some point, he would regenerate, everything was temporary when it really came down to it. She held tighter to him, this being another moment she wanted to savour. _

_ In time they broke apart. 'How'd you feel about going to the Olympics?' he asked. 'What? You mean like ancient Greece or something?'_

_'Well, I was thinking somewhere a bit closer to home.'_

_Her expression was blank. 'London 2012?' he said. _

_'Ooh I forgot about that! Yeah let's go!' she replied, feeling moderately cheered up. He smiled at her and took her hand, the two of them getting back inside the TARDIS for another adventure, the phone box fading away outside of Hermione Granger's kitchen window. _

They hadn't had the slightest clue that they'd been spotted by on of the most famous witches in Britain. But that wasn't all they hadn't known, it wasn't too long after that they had been separated, and maybe if they had known that, they might've spent the last of their days in each other's company differently. The Doctor sighed, looking around again, picking up his jacket and putting it back on. Harry, Ron and Hermione had gone back into the house to explain the situation to Ron's parents. He had subsequently been introduced to all of the Weasley's that were currently co-habiting the Burrow, and got to witness Ginny's famous Bat Bogey Hex. He'd even had a good length conversation with Arthur Weasley about muggle transport and how difficult it was for them to get around. It had been an enjoyable experience, but all the while he was bothered by how little he knew about who was after his friends. He stood alone now in the control room of the TARDIS, having to admit that in addition to that, it was never as much fun meeting your heroes, or in this case, favourite believed-to-be-fictional-characters-that-were-actually-real, alone.

He could imagine that Martha out of all of his friends would've appreciated this most of all, in the same way that he knew Rose had was particularly fearless in the face of Daleks above other aliens and how Donna would just die if she ever found herself on a planet where hats were a prominent feature. He sighed, looking forward to when this adventure was over. He didn't know how much longer he could take the strain of remembering his lost friends. The doors opened and Ron popped back inside, closely followed by his two friends. 'What's up Doc?' he said to the Doctor, following it up with, 'do you get that a lot?' The Doctor thought about it.

'Surprisingly no.'

'How do you know that Ron?' Harry asked, meaning the reference Ron had just used.

'Hermione showed me, she said I should at least know something about muggle popular culture,' he said, rolling his eyes.

'Well it's better then being oblivious to it. You never know when you might need it for something.'

'Yeah, if I ever want it to take ten times longer to clean my room I'll give it a go.'

Harry laughed despite himself, Hermione's look of disapproval making it funnier.

'There are some things muggles can do that wizards can't,' The Doctor said, casually dropping into the conversation. 'Like what?' Ron asked. 'Using a phone for one,' Hermione replied smugly, getting her own back.

'You're never going to let that one go are you?'

She smiled, shaking her head.

'Where's Ginny? I thought she wanted to help?' the Doctor asked.

'Mum says she's not allowed.'

'Oh. That poor girl never gets to do anything,' the Doctor said. 'Tell me about it,' Harry replied, receiving a frown from Ron.

'Did you bring the newspapers?' The Doctor asked. Hermione stepped forward, pulling them from her beaded bag which was impossibly small. The Doctor smiled. 'I love that bag, it's like a miniature TARDIS. Could you live in there if you wanted?'

Hermione looked up at him warily. 'I can't say it's ever occurred to me to try.' She handed the newspapers to him and he took them, opening the first page. 'They probably won't be much help. If Crouch or whoever it is, is out there, the sensible thing to do would be to stay out of the magical world,' she said.

'Though in the muggle world people will think he's me, which seems to be the desired effect. Unless we're completely wrong and someone's actually out there Polyjuiced as Crouch Jr,' he pondered, confusing everyone further. He opened the paper. 'Ooh, moving pictures! This really is wonderful, how can you ever get tired of this?' he said, amazed by a smiling wizard waving up at him from the second page. The teenagers watched him studying the paper, then looked up at each other at the same time and tried to contain their laughter. A strange beeping sound filled the TARDIS. 'Oh that's me,' the Doctor said, lowering the paper and reaching for his phone. He took it out and stared at the screen, his face suddenly becoming serious. Dread trickled down into Hermione's stomach, turning it to lead. 'What is it Doctor?' she asked, afraid of what the answer might be. For a moment he said nothing, then looked up at her. 'It's Donna, they've got Donna.' Hermione stared back at him, then turned to Ron whose face was as grave as the Doctor's. 'Let's get moving,' said the Timelord, moving behind the control place and setting the TARDIS for its next destination.

Hermione caught the phone that the Doctor threw in her direction. She read the message through. 'She will remember you Doctor,' she said aloud, fear flooding through her. 'What does it mean?' asked Harry. Hermione looked to the Doctor, requesting permission to tell her friends, but he was much too busy starting up the TARDIS to pay her any attention. She turned back to Harry and explained. 'Donna's memories were erased, if she remembers the Doctor or anything they did together, she'll die.' Harry's face became grave. 'Remembering him will kill her?' Ron asked, outraged. 'Yes,' replied the Doctor from the centre of the room. 'That's why we have to get there quickly, if she remembers anything at all she doesn't have much time to live.'

'But where are we going? They could be anywhere, in any year!' Harry said, surprised that the Doctor had seemed to overlook this. 'What date does it say on the message Hermione?' asked the Doctor, running around to the other side of the console. 'October 12, 2010,' she said. 'We're going into the future?' she gasped, looking at the Doctor. 'Oh yes!' he said, 'all of you get over here, I don't want anyone falling over.' The three of them obliged and grabbed on to the bars around the middle of the TARDIS. It began to move, all of them losing their balance as it took off. 'We still don't know _where_ they are!' Harry pointed out, still worrying about this minor detail too much to enjoy the ride. 'I don't know for sure Harry, but I've got a pretty good idea where they might be,' The Doctor replied. 'Just relax ok? I know what I'm doing, sort of.' Harry nodded, not totally reassured. 'Bloody hell! This thing is worse than the Knight Bus!' Ron remarked, making the Doctor grin. He tried not to think about the last time the TARDIS had been this full of people.

They suddenly stopped, having reached their destination. Luckily all of them managed to stay upright, though the journey seemed to have shaken them up somewhat. 'Ok, everybody ready?' They nodded. 'Great, allons-y! the Doctor said, already heading for the door. The teenagers followed him. He turned to them before doors of the TARDIS, 'Harry, Ron, Hermione, welcome to the future,' he said, then pulled the doors open with both hands.


	16. Chapter Fifteen: Trapped

Voldemort was pacing the room, simply waiting as all of his preparations had been carried out. Donna was back on her chair now, tied up and unconscious, only the location around her had changed. He had Stunned her for a second time after her botched attempt at escape and left placed her unconscious form in the chair once more. He had taken advantage of the teleportation device Captain Jack had donated to him to compile the last vital ingredient he needed to complete his task. It was only a matter of time now, the Doctor was coming, the weak willed fools always did… Voldemort paced some more, becoming impatient and restless. He hated waiting around for people. He turned to Donna, then revived her, thinking that harassing her would be a good way to pass the time. She woke up and blinked, her eyes adjusting to the light.

'Oh still here am I?' she groaned, 'why haven't you killed me yet?' she said, sounding exasperated. 'All in due course muggle, we don't want to rush do we?'

'I'd rather if you did to be honest.'

He stepped closer to her. 'You still don't remember? You still can't recall, "the Doctor" doesn't ring a bell yet?'

'What bloody doctor? I don't know any doctors! What are you keeping me here for?!' she said, struggling against her bonds with impatience. Voldemort smirked. 'I would keep my anger contained if I were you… you don't want your friend to suffer for your disobedience.'

'I told you I'm not friends with any doctors! Or nurses for that matter, or anyone in the bloody medical profession!'

'You are too literal you feeble minded muggle. Think harder, think deeper,' he said, standing over her, forcing her to crane her neck to look up at him. 'Go beyond the surface.' She frowned, her eyes narrowing again as they had in the car, when she had opened her mind, allowed herself to explore what had been hidden from her. Voldemort bent down slightly, his face just inches from hers. 'He has my face Donna,' he whispered. 'You know him.' She shook her head the slightest bit. 'I don't know-' He placed his finger on her lips and 'shushed' her, much to her displeasure. 'You still want that kiss?' he mocked with a smirk and received a head butt. He fell back from her, almost hitting the ground. 'You just don't learn do you wizard boy?!' she yelled at him. Voldemort stood up again, his forehead pounding at the point of impact. She had really done it this time, he unleashed his fury on her, hitting her with the Cruciatus Curse, causing her to howl with pain. He only lifted the curse when she begged him to. 'It seems to have slipped you mind who's in charge around here Miss Noble,' he said dangerously. 'It's your life in my hands Donna, that's something you don't want to forget.'


	17. Chapter Sixteen: Puzzle Pieces Join

'Where are we?' asked Ron once they had stepped outside. They all stood, taking in their surroundings. They appeared to have landed in the back garden of a very old, very run down, neglected house. The grass was up to their thighs and completely wild, there was ivy covering the back wall of the house, it had even broken through some of the windows. 'It's a lot worse for wear,' the Doctor commented. 'I think I've seen this place before,' Harry said. 'I mean it's completely different but it must be-' 'It's the Riddle House,' said the Doctor. 'And it's still here after all these years,' he said. He turned around, noticing a small cottage to his left. 'That must be where he lived, the gardener,' said Harry to himself, spotting it too. The Doctor nodded, not wanting to let on that he knew exactly what Harry was talking about. 'What makes you think their in here?' the boy asked. The Doctor turned back to him. 'It's where he took Jack. Come on, we better get moving, she might not have much time.'

An awful sense of déjà vu washed over Harry. _'What about the Hall of Prophecy? You were completely wrong about that!' _Hermione screeched in his head. 'Wait,' he said, causing the Doctor, Ron and Hermione to stop trudging through the grass and face him. 'Doctor, what if this is just a trick? What if she'd not in there at all? If he's just using her to get to you?' The Doctor removed his hands from his pockets and turned slightly to look Harry dead in the eye. 'I _know_ this is a trick Harry, he wants me so he's using me Donna to lure me here, that's always how these folks work. Maybe she isn't here, maybe it's just an elaborate trap that I'm about to stumble into. But there's also a very real possibility that she's in there and in danger. I can't take that chance, I won't, and I know you wouldn't either.' Harry nodded reassured, feeling - and not for the first time - that the Doctor knew almost everything about him.

'Before I go in there-'

'What's this "I" about, we're going with you!' said Ron, surprised. The Doctor sighed, 'no your not-'

'We are! We have to! We didn't come all this way just to stand back and let you face Crouch on your own,' Ron told him defiantly.

'Ron, really, I'm flattered but you're not listening to me. If you come in there with me he knows what he's dealing with, and ifhe is Crouch he probably will try to kill you, nothing stopped him from going after Harry before. You guys will have to stay outside and while I'm distracting Crouch or whoever this bloke is, you go in and save Donna. From there you'll have to work something out. I'll try to get away from Crouch myself, though I have to say I'm not sure how I'll fair against a fully trained wizard with no magical ability myself. You might have to help me out if I get into trouble. But don't worry about that for now, just focus on Donna,' he said. Ron balked at him, though Hermione appeared deeply impressed. 'Have you had this all worked out from the start?' she asked. 'No, I just made it all up there now, I'm quite good on the spot, if I do say so myself,' he said with a wink. 'I better get moving,' he said. 'Oh, and if Donna asks you who I am don't tell her. That's important, just say I'm John Smith.' The others nodded and he turned on his heel. 'Good luck Doctor,' Ron said, trying not to raise his voice too loudly as the man ran on ahead. 'Right, so where does that leave us?' he then added turning to his friends. Hermione was already rooting in the beaded bag. 'Let's go find Donna,' she said, pulling out the Invisibility Cloak.

The Doctor entered the back door with caution, he pushed it open quietly, then removed his phone from his pocket and called Jack's mobile. After three rings someone picked up. 'Doctor, you got my message?' The Doctor swallowed, it was quite disconcerting to hear what sounded like his own voice from the other end of the phone. 'I'm at the Riddle House, where is she? What have you done to her?'

'Come closer Doctor, and I'll let you know.' The phone went dead. The Doctor dropped it back into his pocket and progressed through the kitchen. There was a putrid smell in the room, as if it hadn't been cleaned in years. The substantial amount of dust and grime on all of the surfaces added to this effect. He gently pushed open the door and found himself in a large front hall. His eyes instantly travelled to the staircase in the middle of it and he contemplated going up, but then a glimmer of light from across the hall caught his eye. It seemed a fire had been lit in there. Anxiety surged through him as he remembered the opening chapter of the Goblet of Fire; he shivered at the thoughts of seeing a large snake slither along the floor behind him to warn its master of his arrival. But that wouldn't happen, Voldemort was dead, as was the great snake. Whoever had captured Donna had to be less intimidating than either of those.

He stood outside the door, not sure how he should enter, he raised his hand intending to knock to avoid making whoever was in their panic and send a curse flying at him, but then the words entered his head, _he will knock four times_. He shuddered and kicked the door open instead. The first thing he saw was Donna, tied up and unconscious in her chair, the next thing he noticed was a man whose back was turned to him. A wave of fury passed through him upon seeing his best friend in this state. He fixed his eyes on the man who slowly began to turn around. He faced the Doctor and the two men considered each other. If hearing someone else speaking with his voice had been disconcerting, then this was a hundred times more so. Of course it wasn't the first time he had encountered a different version of himself. The most recent had been the meta-crisis human Doctor, but that wasn't the same. The human Doctor had been a duplicate of him, copied in every single way, down to almost the very last detail (except for the parts of him that had come from Donna.) This on the other hand, was much more unsettling. This man had a different demeanour, his face, slightly bruised and still a little bloody was intimidating, his clothes were ragged and old looking, his eyes contained a hard edge, as though he was inhuman. This man was someone else entirely who could've shared nothing but his physical appearance with the Doctor.

'Who are you? And how do you know who I am?' asked the Doctor, staring down his doppelganger. The other man smirked, unsettling the Doctor further to see his own features bent into such an unbecoming expression. 'Does it matter Doctor?'

'Well I'd just like to know really, it's been bothering me all day. It's like, dy'know when you read a brainteaser in the morning and you just can't get it out of your head until you solve it?'

The other man stared blankly, showing his bewilderment by trying to hide it. 'No? Alright then, so who are you? Are you on Polyjuice potion?'

The man's eyes narrowed. 'How do you know of potions?'

'I know a lot more about this world than you think I do,' replied the Doctor, his tone stony.

'Where did you get this knowledge?'

'Tell me who you are and I might consider giving you my secret.'

'The Dar- I do not bargain.'

'The Dar? The Dark maybe? The Dark what? You're Crouch aren't you? You're seeking to take the place of your old master?' The Doctorasked. 'You want to be the next Voldemort?'

The doppelganger's teeth clenched. 'You are not worthy to speak the name.'

'I'm worthy to do whatever I want thanks. So tell me Crouch, how did you come to be Kissed by a Dementor and live to tell the tale?'

'I am not Barty Crouch.'

'You're not? So you must've taken a clump of hair from a dead man to become him. But why? I assume your one of the Death Eaters, not too happy about your leader dying, so you're taking things into your own hands. Did you just do this to escape? Or are you on the run, posing as Crouch and living here so the Auror's can't get their hands on you?'

The man was about to open his mouth to speak, but the Doctor got there first. 'What's any of this got to do with _me_ anyway? How did you find out about me? How did you get to Jack?'

The doppelganger's mouth cracked into a leering smile. 'I did not find the Captain, he found me.'

The Doctor frowned. 'What?'

The other man's grin grew as he placed his hands on his hips triumphantly. 'You'd want to teach your friends to watch themselves more carefully Doctor. They ought to know not to talk to strangers.' The Doctor's brow furrowed further. 'It was Jack that approached me, thinking I was you. It was Jack that told me of Rose, of your travels, of your TARDIS and your long life, your practical immortality.'

Everything suddenly made sense. Well, almost everything. He was tempted to highlight the wizard's mistake, to point out that in the search for practical immortality he'd allowed a genuine immortal being to slip through his fingers, but that was dangerous, better him in the line of fire than Jack. 'So that's why you're after me. You want to become a Timelord.'

'Catching on Doctor?' he replied, the grin becoming monstrous.

'Ooh, please don't make my face do that,' The Doctor said, grimacing. 'But I still can't work out who you are. You've had my appearance unintentionally since before you met Jack, but to you it's Crouch's appearance, unless you are in fact Crouch and you're lying-'

'This is the body of Barty Crouch Jr,' supplied the doppelganger. 'Yes I can see that,' the Doctor replied. 'That's not the part I'm stuck on-'

'You don't _listen_ Doctor!' Crouch-Doctor said. 'Your motor-mouth is even worse than that of your lover's!'

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. 'My lover's?' His eyes fell to the unconscious Donna. He almost laughed. 'Oh, did you think-? You thought-? Donna's not my lover!'

'Not anymore,' taunted the Crouch-Doctor. 'No, not ever! What did you do to her?!' he asked, suddenly worried.

The body of Crouch narrowed his eyes. 'I thought the art of seduction might jog her memory.' The Doctor guffawed. 'You tried to seduce Donna?! Well that explains the bruises then, and the nose bleed!' he said, the doppelganger's minor bumps having Donna Noble written all over them. 'If you want your woman to live Doctor I wouldn't advise mocking me,' warned the possessor of Crouch's appearance. 'My woman? Good thing she's not awake for that, you'd have ended up with much worse than a bit of a cut and a bloody nose.' The other man's wand was out in a flash and the Doctor fell to the ground with the force of his non-verbal spell. He wasn't even sure what he'd been hit with, but it had he was badly winded. 'Your arrogance will be your undoing Doctor. Miss Noble's life rests in my hands, she will only survive if we play by _my_ rules,' said Crouch, stepping over to the Doctor who pulled himself up from the ground, his amusement evaporated.

He eyed Donna, needing to get her safely out of here. 'What do you want? What do you need me to do?' he asked, knowing he would have to vacate this room with his look-a-like if the others had any chance of getting in to save Donna. The man smiled that hideous smile once again. 'Now you're getting it. It is simple Doctor. All I need for you to do is go upstairs and remain perfectly still.'

'Why? What's going to happen if I do that?'

'I will become a Timelord, and take your place as the last of them.'

The Doctor frowned at his pleased duplicate. 'No you won't, what-?'

'Again the constant babbling gets you nowhere. Listen to me,' he said, his voice vicious but silky as he stood before the Doctor, staring him down. 'It is your soul I seek, once it is extracted I am free to become you. Do this, sacrifice your soul or I will pick off your friends one by one, staring with her,' he said, nodding to Donna.

The Doctor looked too, then turned back to Crouch. 'If you kill her-'

'You will be powerless to reverse it. It won't be quick and painless either. I've broken through the must powerful memory charms in my time, I don't think that your _Timelord science, _even stands a chance,' he sneered spitting the words "Timelord science". The Doctor said nothing, observing his own eyes glaring back at him, full of loathing. 'Before she dies she will remember Doctor, you will watch as she curses you for the fate you have condemned her to.'

The Doctor tried to stop himself from flinching, filling to the brim with hatred the more the man before him spoke. He inwardly shuddered at the thoughts of giving up his soul, Dementors shaking his foundations in a way that only the Vashta Nerada could rival. But if it was the only way to keep Donna alive then it had to be done. Besides he was sure he had the upper hand over the body of Crouch, he had a feeling it hadn't occurred to the wizard that the soulless body of the Last of the Timelords couldn't really instruct one on how to become immortal. He braced himself for the possibility of a of a Dementor's Kiss, funny how he was destined to have the same fate as the man who shared his appearance…unless the famous trio could reach him in time. 'And that's only the beginning. Next on the list is Martha, and Rose, and Sarah Jane, and every companion you've ever known Doctor. Make your choice, give me your soul, or the lives of those you care about.'

'There's no contest,' he replied without hesitation. 'But how will I know that you won't harm them after I give up my soul?'

'I would have no reason to target them if their deaths did not serve a purpose.'

The Doctor gritted his teeth, wanting to spew venomous words at this man, tell him how evil and inhumane he was, though having encountered these types before, whoever dwelled inside the body of Crouch probably would've considered it a compliment.

'So, you have made your choice? You will hand over your soul?'

'Yes. Let's just get this over with.'


	18. Chapter Seventeen: The Last Horcrux

'What's going on in there?' Ron whispered from outside the window of the house.

'They're still just talking by the looks of things,' Hermione replied, next to Ron beneath the Cloak. 'He's taking his time anyway, if he doesn't get out of there soon we won't be able to save Donna.' They had tried attaching an Extendable ear onto the window of the house, but from their vantage point it didn't pick anything up, so it had been reeled in again.

'That _is_ Crouch, it must be,' Harry said, for what had to have been the fifth or sixth time since they'd began spying on the inhabitant's of the former Riddle's living room.

'This place gives me the creeps,' Hermione commented, shivering.

'Oh would he hurry it up a bit? My arms are getting tried!' Ron complained.

Hermione gasped, watching as the Doctor fell to the ground, having been hit by his look-a-like's spell.

'Has he been Stunned?' Harry asked, shifting over slightly to get a better view.

'I hope not- No, he's alright, he's getting up now,' said Hermione. For the next few moments they were silent, watching the Doctor's exchange with his double. 'That's mad isn't it? Imagine talking to a psycho version of yourself,' said Ron with awe. No more words were exchanged until the Doctor and the man Harry was convinced was Crouch left the room. 'Where are they going?' Hermione said, sounding panicked. 'I don't know, but I doubt it's off to have a tea party,' replied Ron gravely. 'What if Crouch is headed for the TARDIS?' Harry asked. 'What if they take off and we end up stuck here in the future?'

'The Doctor wouldn't let that happen,' Hermione argued. 'Come on, we should follow them,' she said, attempting to stand up. Ron wrenched on her arm. 'Hey slow down there, what about Donna?' Hermione looked towards the window. 'I dunno. The Doctor looks like he's in trouble-'

'But he specifically asked us to save Donna when the time came. That's the whole reason we're here isn't it?' Ron said, his voice rising a little. Hermione nodded. 'That's true. We can't go after both of them.'

'We can if we split up,' Harry suggested. 'Hermione, you and me will go after the Doctor, Ron, go save Donna.'

'But-'

Hermione raised her hand to silence her boyfriend. 'He's right. The Doctor's got Crouch or whoever after him and he can't defend himself, Donna's relatively safe at the moment with Crouch out of the way.' Ron still looked hesitant, and she thought she knew why. 'Ron you can do it,' she said, placing a hand on his shoulder. She pecked his lips and wished him luck before taking off in the Cloak with Harry. Ron stood up and took a deep breath, readying himself for his mission. He held his wand at the ready and stepped forward, moving towards the house.

The journey up the stairs was like walking to his own execution, which is what it was, in a way. In the back of his mind he hoped Ron, Harry and Hermione might be able to reach him before the Dementor's took their quarry, or if he stalled long enough, before they were even unleashed on him at all. To delay the moment at least a little the Doctor turned to his old reliable weapon- his ability to talk himself out of situations. 'There's still so much I don't understand,' he said as they reached the last step of the staircase. 'Why is your real identity such a secret?' he asked. 'It is not a secret just because you are unable to work it out,' the other man replied, walking across the hall towards a wooden door, the only one in the corridor that wasn't swinging open… The Doctor's stomach lurched, he could almost feel their presence already. 'Then can you do a man whose about to have his soul sucked out a favour and just tell me?'

'I thought you liked a challenge Doctor?'

'And I thought you had been Kissed by a Dementor and killed, but whatddyaknow?'

The man smiled. 'Crouch did have a Dementor take his soul, but they never got around to killing him,' he said. The Doctor narrowed his eyes. 'They didn't get around to killing him…you survived?'

'We're getting there Doctor, it seems your reputation for extreme intelligent does have some small degree of truth in it.'

Harry and Hermione had gone around to the back, and upon seeing that the TARDIS was still intact and on their planet decided to develop a new plan. 'Ok, either we go in after the Doctor or we help Ron save Donna,' Hermione said.

'Ron's probably sorted Donna already, I think we should go into the house and try to find the Doctor. If we find Don and Ronna on the way they can help us-'

'Ron and Donna,' she corrected him automatically.

'That's what I meant, let's go,' Harry said, and both of them followed the route the Doctor had taken earlier, running as fast as they could beneath the Cloak towards the back toward of the Riddle House.

'But how can someone survive without a soul?'

'The body lives on Doctor, the heart still beats, the lungs still breathe, the blood still flows.'

'But surely there's no self awareness? No memories or thoughts, or anything beyond basic physical functioning?'

Crouch's cold smirk returned. 'Very good Doctor.'

'But you-, you're fully alive. You're animated, you've got emotions and thoughts and everything else that exists within a soul, even though you haven't got one-'

'The last hurdle continues to trip you.'

This was maddening, it was impossible. 'How are you capable of doing anything more that just standing and drooling? It doesn't make any sense Crouch.'

'I have already told you Doctor, I am not, nor have I ever been Barty Crouch Junior.' The Doctor frowned, unable to remember a time when he had felt this lost.

'Have you forgotten how to listen? Do you get so carried away with your own mindless, self indulgent chatter that you don't realise the answers are constantly seeking have always been staring you in the face?'

Ron climbed through the window which he had unlocked magically, landing gently on the floor, the threadbare carpet cushioning his footsteps. He eyed Donna whose head was lolling back against her chair. He stood back saying, 'enervate,' as quietly as he could. The woman opened her eyes, lifting her head up and quickly frowning. Ron couldn't help himself expecting some kind of recognition from her but instead all he got was rough, 'Oo are you? Where's that lunatic wandered off to?'

'Shh, be quiet!' Ron said with his fingers to his lips, he didn't want Crouch to hear them and return downstairs. Donna looked affronted, but didn't say anymore. 'I'm Ron, I'm here to get you out.'

'How did you find me?' she asked as Ron stepped back, pointing his wand and undoing the ropes. 'It's a long story.' Donna watched the ropes around her fall away and stood up. 'Thanks a million, I thought that nutter was gonna kill me!' Ron smiled slightly, thinking she hadn't changed a bit from their last meeting. 'Come on, let's get out of here,' he whispered, heading for the door.

'You're not Barty Crouch Junior, and you have never been, well that just brings me back to the Polyjuice potion theory-'

'Think Doctor _think_! This _is_ Barty Crouch's body, not one that's just moulded itself to replicate it.'

The Doctor ran his hands through his hair. Crouch's body without his soul, _without his soul_, but the body certainly had to contain a soul- He lowered his hand again, understanding.

'You've put your own soul in his body-'

His doppelganger's widened sneer told him he had stumbled in the right direction.

'He's a Horcrux, but a living one, not like Harry who only had a parasitic attachment, this is a full on possession.' As it usually did, all of the information flooded through at once. 'But it's not like it was with Quirrell because he had a soul, he was just a host, this is- this is far bigger than that.'

'A body without a soul has room for another,' Crouch recited, only he wasn't Crouch.

'You lost your own body, so now this own has become active. You, your-'

'Say it Doctor,' the wizard said, stepping closer.

The Doctor looked up at his own face, into his own eyes, and said, 'you're Voldemort.'


	19. Chapter Eighteen: Rescue Mission

Harry and Hermione crept through the kitchen and moved out into the hall, their ankles visible below the Cloak. 'Muffilato,' Harry said, casting the spell for extra security.

'Where do you think they are?'

'I'm willing to bet upstairs,' Harry answered, sure he heard voices coming from the second floor. They began to move stealthily up the stairs, unsure of what they would encounter once they reached the top.

'Excellent Doctor,' said the most evil wizard the world had probably ever known. 'That's what you want me for, if the Dementor's remove my soul, then you can make another Horcrux out of me and kill off this one,' he said, with a nod towards Crouch's shell. 'You can become a Timelord.'

'And now that you have the answers, kindly walk to your death. Imperio!'

Before the Doctor could react he felt his mind go blank. All of his thoughts melted away, whatever he'd been worried about a moment ago didn't seem to matter any more. It was so peaceful, so easy, he didn't have to think. A voice told him to open the door before him and so he did, locking it behind him. He walked further into the room, feeling a strange chill pass over him. He didn't stop until he had reached the very centre of the darkened room, then he turned around, the chill setting into his bones, an unnatural cold taking him over, the mindless freedom that had controlled his mind mere moments ago fading away already. His own consciousness returned to him, the curse lifting, he suddenly became aware once again of where he was, of what was going to happen. He couldn't see them but feeling them was enough, already they were getting in his head, forcing him to remember all of the worst moments of his long life…

Ron and Donna left the living room cautiously, the teenager with his wand raised, thinking hard about what to do now. He glanced at the staircase, sure he'd just seen two pairs of disembodied ankles and feet ascending it. _So they still hadn't reached the Doctor_. He whirled around. 'Donna, listened to me. There's a- a box outside, a telephone box, I want you to go outside and just wait there for me-'

'What? You want me to stand outside in a box? What are you going to do?'

'I've got to help out my friends. I'll be out as soon as I can I promise.'

'But what if something happens to you? You're just a chap!' she said, grabbing his wrist, concern in her eyes. 'And what friends? How many people are in here?'

'A few, trust me Donna, I'll be fine, just go outside to the box, it's safe out there.'

'Can't we just call the police or something?' Before Ron could say anything, she spoke again. 'Hang on, you said your name's Ron didn't you?' she said. He didn't answer straight away, horror struck for a moment, thinking that her memory was returning, but then he recalled that she had known him on their first meeting just as the Doctor had. He noticed her focusing on his hair, the wand in his hand. 'And you're friends, they wouldn't happen to be Harry Potter and Hermione what's-it?' Ron said nothing, telling her without having to say it. Her jaw dropped. 'No way! I don't believe this!' she exclaimed. 'This. Is. _Bonkers_!'

'Donna listen to me, you have to go out to the TAR- to the box-'

'Are you mental? Harry Ron and Hermione are on one of their classic adventures and I have to patiently wait outside until it's over? I'm not having that!'

'But Donna-'

'Listen to me Weasley, I miss_ everything_, anything interesting that happens I'm never there for it, but I'm not missing this, no way.' Ron didn't dare to disagree with her, quite startled and even a little scared by her determination. 'Alright then, let's go,' he said. She beamed at him and they set off up the staircase after Harry and Hermione.

They were still below the Cloak, both of them hunched slightly to keep their feet covered. They awkwardly snuck down the hall, both of them only too aware that there was only the Doctor's look-a-like out there in the hallway, the Timelord was nowhere to be seen. The man Harry still believed to be Crouch stood facing the door, possibly trying to listen in on what was going on in there. Harry himself couldn't hear a thing, a sign he took as being more ominous than sounds of a struggle somehow. It would be easy now, to strike down Crouch as he had his back to them, but just then the man turned around, frowning. Hermione held her breath, getting the feeling just a split second after Harry that the impostor was aware he wasn't alone. Before she could raise her wand or even think of a non-verbal incantation, the man had raised his wand and yelled, 'stupefy!' Both Harry and Hermione jumped out of the way in different directions, causing the Cloak to fall off, exposing them to him.

'The Boy Who Lived and his know-it-all friend, of course. What brings you here?' Harry stood up, firing a hex back at Crouch who deflected it. Hermione shot her own spell at him too but that also failed to penetrate Crouch's shield. 'How did you survive Crouch? What are you doing to the Doctor?'

'It's none of your business Potter, you never can keep your nose out can you?'

'Petrificious tot-' began Hermione but Crouch blasted her to the floor before she could finish, where she collapsed. Harry spared a second to glance at her limp form, catching the wink she directed at him before whipping his head back, not wanting to be caught off guard. His brain began to strain itself trying to understand her plan while simultaneously trying to predict where Crouch's next jinx would hit. 'You should never trust strangers Harry,' said the man, apparently bidding his time before trying to hex Harry again. 'Did he lead you here? Did he ask for your help?' Harry said nothing, thinking he had cracked what Hermione was up to. If Crouch believed Hermione was unconscious and therefore out of action, then hopefully Harry could direct the Death Eater away from the doorway, allowing Hermione enter the room and save the Doctor.

'That's none of your business Crouch.' The man laughed. 'You believe I'm Crouch, Potter? You believe that everybody is as straight forward as they appear?' Harry said nothing, now wondering about the best way to start a duel which didn't run too high a risk of landing him badly injured, or worse. It was a ludicrous thought, but then again so was the idea that he was in the future trying to save an otherworldly alien from the grip of a Death Eater who was meant to have died several years ago. 'What about the Doctor? I assume you believe him? You must, you're here aren't you? Trying to save a man you barely know, a man who you owe nothing.'

'What's your point Crouch?' Harry said, bored of the ultimatum, he'd had far too many of these conversations over the last seven years.

'How do you know he didn't lure you here? How do you know _I'm_ not the Doctor?'

'Because the Doctor's in that room right behind you,' Harry replied automatically, his wand outstretched towards Crouch who was posed in a similar stance. It was so reminiscent of his last showdown with Voldemort it was almost repetitive. 'Are you certain?'

Harry opened his mouth, but then closed it again, doubting himself slightly and knowing this was the worst time to do so. 'How much has he told you Harry? Did he just drag you here without any explanation, and you just followed blindly? Getting behind anyone who says the word "help"?' Harry frowned, he didn't like this, he didn't need it. It made him think of Sirius, of how he wouldn't have died if Harry had just listened to Hermione's reasoning.

'I thought you'd grown up Harry. I thought you'd learned not to just blunder into situations playing the hero. I thought you'd think about it first, ask yourself why before ploughing ahead.'

'What do you want Crouch?'

'I want _you_ Potter, and I'm not Crouch.'

'Me? But it's the Doctor-'

'Who brought you here,' he said, triumphantly, his sneer reaching new heights. 'He is like you, pretending to go forth and bravely sacrifice himself in the place of his friends, only to endanger them again and again, only to lose them, to get them killed. You are at the core the same Potter, your desire to save everyone is what causes you to lose them.'

'Are telling me that the Doctor was in on this? That he took us to you on purpose?'

'The time for questions has passed Potter. Avada-'

'Protego!' Harry yelled, blocking the spell and making a run for it, shooting spells back at Crouch as he sprinted down the hallway, leaving Hermione to save the Doctor, who may not be what he claimed as Harry had feared in the beginning…

Meanwhile, on the opposite side of the door, the Doctor sat cowering on the ground, his head balanced on his knees, his hands over his ears, trying to quell the voices in his head. He couldn't see the Dementors swirling around him, which made their effects all the more sinister. He could hardly see anything, only the dull twilight shone in through the room's singular window which the Doctor had already abandoned as a possible means of escape. Both of his hearts were choked with thick ice, each beat was excruciatingly painful. Every one of his worst memories played over and over in his mind. He tried his best to resist, but knew there was only so much longer he could last.

He saw Rose floating away from him into the void, he saw his daughter Jenny hitting the ground, having taken a bullet for him. Reinette, the girl from the fireplace's funeral procession flew passed his eyes, he had told her he would come back, he had promised her that he would show her the stars, the planets and she had waited, and waited, only to die before he returned. He heard Lynda with a Y, struck down by daleks. He saw the matron Joan Redfern, and the love that he had taken away from her, in killing John Smith by opening the fob watch, he saw Rose again, kissing her human Doctor, the Master dying in his arms, and Donna, oh Donna and her blank expression, Donna when she recognised him no longer. He felt his body weakening, his soul seeming to slip away, a part of him almost wanted it to go, to desert him, having it within him was too painful. He held on, closing his eyes, rocking back and forth as he remembered Gallifrey, and all of the Timelords, his entire race wiped out, his family, all of his friends, no more, because of him, because of him, the blanket despair was smothering, overwhelming, he couldn't take it anymore…


	20. Chapter Nineteen: Showdown

Ron and Donna had just reached the top step of the stairs when the teenager forced them both to duck. 'Get down!' he whispered. A moment later Harry hurtled by, closely followed by Crouch who was firing curses at him. Ron watched until they retreated into another room down the hall, only then did he turn to Donna to fill her in. 'Listen, there's this other bloke we've got to save ok, I don't know where he is but I reckon he's upstairs somewhere. Just, don't freak out when you see him. He looks exactly like Crouch, except maybe a bit cleaner.'

'Crouch? You mean John Smith?'

'What? I mean the guy who kidnapped you!'

'Yes John Smith!' Donna said. Ron didn't allow himself the time to be confused. 'Whatever, let's just go,' he said, and climbed the last step, turning left along the hallway.

Harry crouched behind the king sized bed, trying to locate where his enemy was. 'You continue to cheat death Potter, but don't be fooled by thinking that it is your skill that allows you to do this. It is mere fluke, every time, you have had help from superior minds, you have had lucky escapes.'

'I've had this lecture already from Voldemort himself thanks, I don't really want a watered down version by one of his minions.'

An angry flash of green light flew in his direction. Harry rolled over, narrowly escaping being hit.

'I am not anybody's minion!'

'Right…'

'Do not mock me!' Crouch yelled, hurling a curse Harry's way that caught his ankle which began to swell. He rolled right under the bed now, intending to come out the other side of it, thinking by the direction of his voice that Crouch was on the other side of the room. 'Your friends are no longer here to help you Harry Potter.'

'Do you Death Eaters never get sick of saying that? I don't know if you've noticed but Voldemort's not around here either so there's nobody to reward you for killing me.'

'If you think the Dark Lord is not present you are sadly mistaken.'

Harry rolled out from the other side of the bed and kneeled next to it, trying to locate Crouch. There was silence, his eyes darted around for a glimpse of his pursuer but there was no sign of him. Was it possible that he had picked up the Cloak in the hallway and thrown it over himself?

'I hate to break it to you but he's dead. I killed him, he's gone, for good this time.'

The Death Eater laughed. 'As far as you know,' he jeered. Harry frowned. 'What are you on about Crouch?'

'I am not Crouch.'

'Then who are you?' There was silence, apart from the creak of the wooden floor boards beneath Crouch's boots as he paced around the room. Harry tried to pinpoint where the sound was coming from, but he couldn't be sure. The man ignored the question, deciding to answer one Harry hadn't asked instead.

'With your sacrifice Harry, I will rise to power much greater then ever before, much greater than anyone has ever imagined.'

Harry sighed softly, wondering which of Voldemort's followers was deluded enough to think that they could become even more powerful than their fallen leader had been.

'I have eliminated the problem of twin cores, I have eliminated the problematic ownership of the Elder Wand. The prophecy has been completed, its rules no longer apply, and I've eliminated the problem of your mother's sacrifice, we no longer share the same blood Potter.'

Harry began to feel uncomfortable shivers down his spine. He didn't dare believe what he was hearing. 'Nagini was not the last Horcrux that was created, and with your death their can be a ninth, I can be the most powerful being in not just the Earth, but in the universe. The Timelord's soul has been erased Potter, his body is just sitting idle, waiting for someone else to inhabit it.' His rhythmic footsteps stopped and Harry knew what was going to happen just as it did. Voldemort in Crouch's body peered over him with a victorious sneer etched into his face. Before Harry could even raise his wand Voldemort had the spell half way out-

'Avada Ked-'

'Stupefy!' yelled a girl's voice, and Voldemort slumped to the ground. Harry pulled himself up. 'Hermione!' he exclaimed, rushing towards her. 'Harry are you ok? Did he get you?'

'Just some kind of Stinging Jinx on the ankle, I'm fine.'

'Oh,' Hermione said, pointing her wand at the large lump that was protruding from his sock and healing it. 'Thanks, where's Ron? Where's Donna? And has anyone rescued the Doctor?'

'Both of them are on it, I thought I'd just keep an eye on things down here, just in case.'

'You showed up at just the right time. He's Voldemort Hermione! Voldemort in Crouch's body!' said Harry. His friend frowned. 'What?!'

'I'll explain later, let's go,' he said. She nodded and the left the room, sprinting down the hall to the other side.

Minutes before this, Ron had run into Hermione on the corridor. 'Ron, you found her!'

'Yeah, where is he?'

'In there,' she said, 'I have no idea what's in there with him, I tried unlocking the door but it won't budge.'

'I'll try it, you should go after Harry, he looks like he might need help,' Ron said, Hermione nodded, then on impulse she kissed him, in case everything might go wrong within the next few minutes and it was her last chance to.

'What is it with you and intense situations?' Ron asked her.

'I really don't know,' she replied with a shrug. 'Get that door open, there probably isn't much time.' He nodded and Hermione sped off in the opposite direction.

Ron watched her go, only just noticing Donna across the hall from him, her eyes also on his girlfriend. 'Aw, you two end up together? That's lovely,' she said with a smile. Ron, having no time to try and make sense of this, turned his attention to the looked door before him. 'Stand back Donna!' he instructed her, before shouting, 'Bombarda!' at the door which burst imploded and crashed to the ground.

As soon as the door had been blasted off its hinges, Ron could feel the coldness seeping into his bones. There was almost no light in the room, all he could make out were three cloaked figures, floating ominously and the feet of a man who was trembling in the corner beyond them.

'It's so cold in here, that means those things doesn't it? Depressors, no, Tormentors-'

'Dementors,' Ron corrected her, his voice grave. 'Stay back outside the door Donna.' Though instinctively determined to argue whenever someone had the audacity to tell her what to do, Donna obliged and stepped back to the other side of the doorframe. Ron watched as the Doctor flailed, curling himself up even tighter, mumbling something under his breath. He summoned all of the positive energy he could muster, thinking of his possible future of becoming an Auror, thinking of Quidditch out in the back garden of the Burrow, thinking of Hermione and the kiss she had just bestowed upon him. That was what did it, 'Expecto Patronum!' he yelled, a corporeal Jack Russell Terrier bursting forth the end of his wand and scampering after the three hooded beasts. They scattered, gliding away from the Doctor and flying out of the nearest window. Instantly warmth re-entered the air, the darkness lifted slightly. 'Lumos maxima,' Ron said, a large orb of light appearing from the tip of his wand, illuminating the whole room.

The Doctor remained on the floor, still conscious but only just, he unclasped his hands and let his knees drop, his legs spreading out across the floor. Ron heard the sound of pounding footsteps coming from behind. He turned to see Harry and Hermione who halted, red faced and out of breath. 'What happened?' he asked them. 'Hermione- stunned him,' Harry explained between breaths. 'Dementors?' He asked, indicating the room in which they stood. Ron nodded, all of there eyes turned to the Doctor who remained on the floor. He looked utterly broken, resting his head against the wall and just staring ahead into space. 'What's happened? Did they- do that thing where they take your soul?' Donna asked, her tone more sombre than usual. The Doctor looked up at the sound of her voice. 'Donna, you're ok,' he said, his voice strained and quiet. She looked at him, probably puzzled by this, but managing not to show it. 'Come here,' he asked, inclining his head the slightest bit. Donna looked at the others questioningly, Hermione answered her with a nod, and so she stepped close to the Doctor, lowering herself to his level. 'Are you alright mate?' she asked kindly. 'I'm fine,' he replied weakly, 'I'm just fine,' he added in a whisper, a soft smile lifting the corners of his mouth. 'You're going be ok now. Them lot saved you, saved me and all,' Donna said, falling into her usual habit of talking too much when at a loss for what else to do. The Doctor's smile widened. 'Of course they did.'

Ron's patroness which still lingered, wandered over to the Doctor and Donna, both of them gazed at it, the Doctor raised his hand in an attempt to stroke it, instead his hand fell through it. 'They're so beautiful aren't they?' Donna said to the room at large, admiring the silvery animal. 'I wish I could make one of those,' she said. 'I wonder what mine would be.'

'Probably, an Ood,' the Doctor said, managing a feeble chuckle. Donna smiled indulgently, though she mustn't have had the slightest clue what he was on about. 'Look, it's a Jack Russell terrier,' he said, causing Hermione to marvel at how even after a severe Dementor attack he still managed to ramble. 'That's his one, that's Ron's,' he told Donna who appeared to be trying her best no to look alarmed. 'And hers, hers is an otter. Jack Russell terriers chase otters, that's nice isn't it? Jack's rustling otters chase terriers…it's nice…'

His resistance failed him then, his eyes closed and he slumped further down the wall, his head hitting the floor with a small thud. Donna kneeled forward, concern in her face. 'He's not dead is he?' she asked, worried. 'No, he's just collapsed. His defences have been lowered by the Dementors so he fainted. It happens,' Harry explained. Donna looked down at the unconscious Doctor, pity in her eyes. 'Poor guy,' she said, lightly stroking his arm. 'Can you do anything for him?'

'We can revive him, but he could probably do with a rest for a minute. Having creatures try to steal your soul takes a lot out of you,' Harry said. Donna nodded.

Hermione watched, remembering what the Doctor had said earlier that day, she hated how it was for them, how it had to be. 'He's not half as creepy as the other guy is he?' Donna said mildly. 'Speaking of, where's he gone?' she said, taking back her hand and looking at the trio. 'He's Stunned. He'll be out until someone revives him,' Hermione said. 'Which should probably be never,' Ron added. Donna looked back to the prostrate Doctor. 'Is he this guy's evil twin or something?'

'It's sort of hard to explain,' said Harry. 'Well can one of you please try,' Donna said, getting to her feet again, her sassy attitude returning. 'Because I'm a bit lost at the moment. All I know is I'm in some old smelly house with three fictional characters and two guys that look like the same person, one whose kidnapped me and the other whose just been knocked out by a bunch of Dementors.'


	21. Chapter Twenty: The Unforgivable

All three of them looked at each other, the same thought evident on all of their faces. How on Earth could they explain this situation without accidentally causing Donna to remember the Doctor? 'Maybe we should just wake him up now, he could tell you better than any of us can,' said Harry. Donna eyed the man on the floor, seeming doubtful. Hermione stepped forward, performing the spell which awakened the Timelord. He opened his eyes, blinking several times and wincing at the light. She helped to pull him into a sitting position where he wiped his eyes and grimaced, raising his hands to his head. 'Are you alright?' Hermione asked. 'Yeah I'm fine, I've just got a massive headache.' Harry nodded, remembering how he had woken up in the hospital wing in his third year after a good rest, and even then he had felt somewhat woozy, he didn't want to imagine what the Doctor was suffering, having been revived after only minutes. The Doctor glanced around. 'Everybody's here, and we're all alive, and I've still got my soul,' he said, patting his chest, as if it was something tangible. 'Good, great,' he said, trying to get up. He stumbled and fell back down again, pressing his hand against the wall to stop him hitting the floor. 'Take it easy mate, you can't expect to be up and about just yet,' Ron said. 'Have you got any chocolate Hermione?'

'I'll check.'

She reached into the beaded bag, her whole arm disappearing into it. Donna watched, fascinated as she rooted around inside it. A moment or so later she fished out a chocolate bar and handed it to the Doctor. 'It's probably a bit melted, but it should do the trick.'

'Thanks,' Doctor said, undoing the wrapper. 'What does that do?' Donna asked Harry.

'It helps. I don't really know why but it does.'

'Just sort of cheers you up doesn't it? A bit of chocolate,' added Ron. The Doctor nodded, 'I feel better already. So what happened to stole-my-face?'

'Hermione Stunned him, he's in the bedroom down the hall. And I, know who he was-'

'Me too,' replied the Doctor. Both he and Harry said 'Voldemort,' simultaneously, which was quickly followed by Ron's outraged 'what?!' and Donna's perplexed 'who?'

Harry turned to them, and Hermione who looked eager.

'He basically told me that he's created another Horcrux, a living one in the body of Crouch-'

'Is Voldemort the bald guy without the nose? Or is that Dumbledore-'

'It's Voldemort, not a good idea to mix those two up,' the Doctor informed her, breaking off another piece of chocolate and eating it. 'Well sorry!' replied Donna, harassed at the stony looks she received from the other three.

'Anyway,' Harry continued , 'he told me that Crouch had been Kissed but not killed. So he must've taken Crouch's Kissed body and made a Horcrux out of it.'

'An eighth Horcrux? One that even Dumledore knew about?' Hermione asked. Harry nodded. 'But then why did it act differently to all of the others? Why didn't it just allow Voldemort to stay alive in his original body after you defeated him?'

Harry shrugged. 'I've got no idea.'

'I do,' said the Doctor from the floor, rolling up the wrapper of the bar, having finished it. Everyone looked down at him. He wiped his hands against each other and began to explain. 'What I think it might've been is a sort of "second go" kind of thing. Like those videogames where you die and then wake up as a different character. Instead of working like the other horcruxes that just tethered Voldemort to life in his own body, this horcrux seemed to be like a whole seperate life.' The Doctor pulled himself to his feet, feeling odd with them all gazing down at him like a child. He wobbled only slightly and then got his balance. 'I think because Barty Crouch no longer had his own soul, his own consciousness, it was replaced with Voldemort's. His body probably lay here dormant for a few years, like a normal horcrux, just safeguarding the soul, but when you destroyed all of the other horcruxes and killed Voldemort's real body, this one must've come to life. He'd given himself a second chance. Well, a third sort of, taking into account the whole back-firing killing curse that gave you that scar,' he said, nodding at Harry, who despite being more than used to it, hated when people's eyes drifted to his forehead in an attempt to see the Boy Who Lived's famous trademark. There was silence for a moment as everybody digested this information. 'You said he's down the hall did you?' the Doctor asked. Hermione nodded. 'Let's make sure he's still there then.' They left the room, the Doctor walking slower and with less vigor than before.

Donna fell into step beside him. 'That's all very well and good, but it doesn't explain why _I'm_ here, what've I got to do with any of this? And who exactly are you?'

The Doctor looked at her, having forgotten about this part. 'I, I'm John Smith,' he said, holding out his hand for her to shake. 'But he said _he_ was John Smith,' she replied, her brow furrowing at his outstretched hand. 'He was…lying. He was impersonating me,' the Doctor said, plucking words out of the air as he walked on down the hall, noticing the occasional worried glances from the others. 'But why would he impersonate you? Who _are_ you?'

'John Smith.'

'I've gathered that much already, thanks. But what's so special about you that some madcap wizard would want to impersonate you?And what's he gone and kidnapped me for?' Donna asked, stopping before the Doctor with her arms folded. Hermione, Harry and Ron stopped too, facing the situation behind them. It was clear the Doctor, as good a talker as he was, had been caught in a jam.

'He kidnapped you to get to me,' the Doctor said, drawing on the idea that the most convincing lies had some degree of truth in them.

'But I don't know you,' Donna replied, with the same amount of attitude she had bombarded him with on their very first meeting.

'I know that, but- Your Granddad knows me.'

Her frown deepened, the Doctor continued, knowing he was on thin ice here, and he could tell by the anxious looks on their faces that the others shared this sentiment. 'We, we've been acquainted once. You probably don't remember-'

'I do, you were in Mum's place. That's what he said too.'

'Yes, because he was pretending to be me, you see. He impersonated me in order to kidnap you, so that then I would come here after you-'

'He pretended to be you, to get to me, so that in the end he would get to you? But if he wanted you why did he pick me? Why didn't he capture Granddad, who actually has some clue who you are?!' Donna asked, her fiery temper rising.

'That's because-' the Doctor began, gaping at her, hoping to launch into a perfectly plausible explanation that never came.

'Because that would be too simple,' said Ron, in an attempt to rescue the situation that the Doctor could all ready feel going against his intentions.

'You don't say,' replied Donna scathingly. 'What I mean is, it's worse if he took you, to get to the- John. This way, your Granddad who knows John, would blame him if anything happened to you, therefore making John even more guilty by not just getting you into trouble, but by ruining his friendship with your grandfather.' The Doctor looked at Ron, impressed, and surprised. Donna's arms were still crossed, but she said nothing for the time being. 'It's sort of a domino effect kind of thing, make as many people as unhappy as possible.' The woman turned her attention to the Doctor once more.

'But what's so special about you? What did he want you for? And how did you know I was here?'

'Wilf told me, he called, saying you'd gone missing-'

'And that made think that there must be a kidnapper about with your face?'

'No, I found out about him through my friend Jack. He ran into somebody who he thought was me, but wasn't. That's how I found about Crouch, then I got a call from Wilf and I knew I needed help so I went to these three.'

'So you're a wizard as well? But who-? Why did he send Dementors after you?'

Her persistence was wearing him out. 'I- I have something that he wanted.'

'Ok, and what is it?' she said, clearly beginning to lose her patience. 'It's a, a very rare sort of-'

'Apparation machine,' Hermione chimed in at just the right time. Now she got the brunt of Donna's suspicious stare, it was more intimidating than she had expected. 'That's how we got here. Mr. Smith is one of the only wizards with one, it can travel extremely fast to anywhere in the-'

The Doctor was subtly shaking his head just beyond Donna's eye line, worried that she was about to trigger memories of the TARDIS. 'The world. That's what Voldemort wanted, probably so he could get out of the country, maybe start his reign of terror again in a new continent,' Hermione bluffed. The Doctor turned back to Donna, hoping against hope that she would believe all of this. 'It's all very elaborate isn't it?' she said, looking at each of them in turn. 'Well, that's what he does best isn't it? Good old Tom Riddle, turning his old followers into horcruxes, making complicated kidnapping plans, it's his style, he wouldn't be himself without it. Let's go see how he's doing shall we?' he said, walking ahead of the group into the bedroom before Donna could ask anymore questions. They followed him, all looking down at the fallen body of Crouch. He noticed the teleportation device still strapped around his wrist. 'Oh, that's my friend Jack's,' he said, leaning forward to remove it. 'He'll want that back,' he added, pocketing it.

'What should we do with him?' Ron asked, eyeing the body with distaste. 'We'll have to kill him,' sad Harry, not seeing any other way around it. The Doctor sighed, always hating the thoughts of murder, even if their seemed to be no other way. 'You could always give him what he wants.'

'What do you mean?' asked Harry, thinking of the conversation he'd had with Voldemort, a flicker of unease licking his insides. 'I've done it before, grant those who want to be immortal their wish. I've left one in a mirror, so all she can see is other people's reactions to their own reflections, another ones stuck as a scare crow. So many beings want to live forever, forgetting that it means _forever_, that it means eventually you'll run out of things to do,' the Doctor said darkly, his eyes staring ahead at the things in his mind that none of the rest of them could see. He then remembered his company. 'It's your call Harry, do whatever you think is best.'

Harry stared down at the glassy eyes that Voldemort's current form shared with the Doctor. 'I like the sound of him being stuck forever in a place that he can't escape, but I don't want to take the chance that he might, knowing him he'd find away. I think it's best if it just ends.' The Doctor replied with a solemn nod. Harry readied himself, taking a deep breath a staring down at the man who had marred and taken so many lives, most recently Fred, Lupin and Tonks, and everybody else who had perished in the war, but still, Harry ached most of all for the loss of the parents he had never known because of the man that lay before him. He pointed his wand at Crouch's chest, and for the first time, cast the worst of the Unforgivable Curses. 'Avada Kedavra,' he said, the green light flashed, Crouch's body twitched slightly, then moved no more.

**Author's Note:** Stick around for the final three chapters coming tomorrow.


	22. Chapter Twenty One: Hogsmeade

**Author's Note:** Here comes the aftermath. I'd really like to know what people think of my use of the "question that can never be answered" in this chapter, I'm thinking it's a little on the cheesy/corny side. Opinions on this subject or just in general would be much appreciated. Please review :)

There was silence, until debate rose once again as they decided what to do with the body. In the end they mutually agreed on the course of action they took. They left the house, returning to the overgrown garden in the twilight, where the three teenagers raised their wands. 'Incendio,' Harry incanted, shortly followed by Ron and Hermione. The flames burst forth from their wands, setting the house alight. The fire grew, spreading quickly, soon consuming the entire house. They all watched, awed by the terrible beauty of the orange flames that lit up the garden all around them, destroying the body of the long gone Barty Crouch Junior and the wizard that had possessed him. The Doctor watched with all of the others, thinking they had to get along soon, before the emergency services showed up. 'Is that your Appartion machine?' said a voice that had to have been Donna's. He turned his head slightly, gazing at her, noting how the light from the flames complimented her hair. 'Yes,' he replied, following her eyes to the TARDIS. 'Why does it look like a police phone box from the fifties?' _Because the chameleon circuit broke, and the Doctor Donna knew how to fix it…_

'Because it was made in the fifties, they thought it would fool muggles.'

She looked from the TARDIS back to him again, something in her eyes that worried him, that gave him the feeling she knew more than she was letting on.

The sound of sirens rent the air, they were coming closer. 'Let's go,' said the Doctor, stopping himself from repeating it in French, in case Donna picked up on it, it was bad enough that she had to re-enter the TARDIS, he didn't want to do anything else that might trigger her memory. They all pummelled inside, Donna amazed as she had been before by it's bigger on the inside-y ness. He was vaguely aware of Hermione's explanation of undetectable extension charms and her well crafted direction of Donna's attention to her beaded bag. 'Right, let's get you home Donna,' he said, setting the co-ordinates for Chiswick. 'Home? Already?' she said, disappointed. 'Well where'd you want to go?' he asked, knowing he shouldn't, knowing he should just drop her off like he'd intended to. She thought for a moment, looking around at Harry, Ron and Hermione. 'Where you guys go, to that nice little village, the place with the frothy drinks…'

'Butterbeer?' said Harry.

'Hogsmeade?' added Ron.

'Yes! To both!'

The Doctor hesitated as Donna looked at him, pleading with her eyes, reminding him of the last time he'd seen her do this, before he'd erased her memories. 'Ok,' he said, feeling he owed her this at least. She beamed, as did the others and they set off.

They spent much longer in the village than the Doctor had intended. They'd gone to a day back in the trio's time, the Doctor explaining the time change by telling Donna it was the next day already, that's they'd travelled through the night without realising it due to the speed of his machine. Again she appeared sceptical, but said no more about it. After a long afternoon wandering through shops, Donna awed by practically everything, and the Doctor equally so, though his attempts to not blow his cover around Donna kept his excitement under control. When their feet ached from walking they entered the Three Broomsticks, each looking forward to a butterbeer. 'Wow that's amazing,' Donna said, 'it really shouldn't work but it does,' she said, lowering her drink. The Doctor nodded, though didn't say anything, remembering the he was pretending to be a wizard and so butterbeer shouldn't be new to him. 'Can you tell us how you know so much about us?' Hermione asked both of them. 'Yeah, I was wondering that as well,' added Harry. The Doctor was surprised to see Donna looking to him automatically, as though trying to confer with him, just like she used to. He pushed the thought away and attempted to think of a satisfactory answer.

'Well, I don't know about him, but where I'm from, you're sort of legends. There's books about you, even films. You see I thought, they were just stories-'

'Donna,' said the Doctor, wishing she would understand that she couldn't tell them they were mere fictional characters in her world. 'Do you mean, biographies?' Her brow furrowed slightly, she stared at him. For a moment he feared she would interrogate him again, but this didn't happen. 'Yeah,' she said, not taking her suspicious eyes off of the Doctor.

'They've written books about us?' Hermione asked, astonished, 'that muggles read?' Donna opened her mouth and closed it again. 'Yeah, maybe your governement has altered them in some way so you don't know about it. I mean, they wouldn't want all that fame going to your heads would they?' she finished, impressing the Doctor as Ron had earlier, proving yet again that she was much more competent than she allowed herself to believe. The teenagers took in this information, looking pleased and surprised. Soon Harry excused himself and left the table. A moment or so later a waitress arrived, taking away their empty mugs. 'Can I get you anything else?' she asked, smiling pleasantly. 'No thanks,' Donna said, at precisely the same time as the Doctor. The waitress glanced around at their table. 'Aw, you've got one of each,' she said to the Doctor and Donna, tilting her head in Ron and Hermione's direction. All four of them looked at each other, then grasped her meaning. There were several outbursts at once, all of them talking together.

'Oh we're not- they're not our kids-' Donna began.

'I'm not his- He's not my brother-'

'She's not my sister!'

'We're not married-'

'We're not a couple.'

The waitress's eyebrows disappeared under her fringe. 'Sorry, my mistake,' she said, leaving their table, an awkward silence remaining in her wake. They were all glad when Harry returned and jumped on him to begin a new conversation.

Soon the adventure was over and Donna reluctantly agreed it was time to go home. She walked alongside the Doctor as they made their way back to the TARDIS. 'That was nice,' she said. 'It was,' he replied. 'I'm glad you said it actually, it wouldn't have occurred to me.'

'Well I bet you come here all the time, the novelty's probably worn off by now,' she said, her voice having the slightest edge, as though she was testing him.

'Yeah, it has a bit.'

He looked down, searching for a different topic, then noticed a ring on her finger. It brought a smile to his face. 'You're engaged,' he said.

'Yep,' she said, raising her hand, inspecting the ring. 'What, are you jealous or something?' she added threateningly, looking him up and down. 'Oh no, no, I'm just happy, I'm happy for you.' She remained quizzical. 'I'm happy for anyone who's getting married, I like weddings.'

Her eyes narrowed, as they had many times on this trip, but she looked away. They walked in silence, Donna sneaking glances at him every now and then, as though she was trying to figure something out. He began to speed up, she couldn't remember now, after they had gotten this far. 'I have the strangest feeling we've met before this,' she said.

'We have, at your Mum's remember?'

'I know that but…' she shook her head. 'Why do I feel like I know you John?'

He said nothing, keeping his eyes trained on the ground, his pace slowed again of its own accord. 'I have no idea, I'm just a family acquaintance.'

'He kept on about it, that Crouch fella. He kept trying to get me to remember him, but it wasn't him was it, it was you?' The Doctor didn't respond.

'You're not really a wizard are you?' she asked.

'Why wouldn't I be?' he replied, turning on defensive mode.

She stopped walking and faced him. 'Because you don't carry a wand, and you look like a kid in a candy store back there, you've never been here before.' He stood before her, hands in his pockets, feeling ashamed, he had put her in this mess, in a position where he couldn't even really talk to her anymore without raising her suspicions.

'Who are you? Who are you really? And what are you keeping from me?'

He sighed. 'It's best if you don't know Donna. Trust me on this,' he said, his voice low and solemn.

'How can I trust you if you're not honest with me? You're no better than him! That nutball who kidnapped me!' He dropped his eyes. 'Do you think I believe that hogwash you gave me? He wanted to steal that machine of yours? I'm not an idiot Mr. Smith, I can tell when I'm being lied to.'

'I'm sorry Donna, really I am, but I can't explain, you can't know.'

'He asked me to send a message to someone, Crouch did, or Voldemort or whoever he was. He told someone called the Doctor that "she would remember him," she meaning me.'

The Doctor swallowed.

'I don't what that means, I don't know what he wanted me to remember but I know it's in there somewhere, I know it's got something to do with you.'

'Donna I-'

'It's you isn't it? You're who I've forgotten, you're the Doctor-'

'Donna I don't know what you're talking about-'

'Don't lie,' she said, her eyes drilling right into his, 'please, just tell me. Are you the Doctor?'

He set his face, bending it into the perfect blank expression, forcing down the grief in his hearts. 'Doctor who?' he asked, with the smallest of frowns. Her eyes still searched his, but he didn't allow himself to give anything away. A soft sigh escaped her lips, she looked away, seeming to decide that he wasn't anyone important after all. 'Never mind,' she said under her breath, trudging on through the snow to the teenagers who had gathered outside the TARDIS and were waiting patiently for them.

The next stop was Chiswick, half an hour after Donna had left her work, the time she normally arrived home at. They all stepped out of the TARDIS, Donna hugging the trio goodbye one by one. 'Wait until I tell my friends about this, I'll finally have a crazy story that's much better than all of theirs,' she said with a mischievous grin. At last she came to Doctor. 'Good to see you again John Smith, I'll tell Granddad you said hello,' she told him, still with that look in her eye, as though she was still struggling to place him. 'Do that, and good luck with the wedding.' She beamed, then pulled him into a hug. He stopped himself from holding her too long, lest she get even more suspicious, if that were possible. She took off, waving back to them before walking up the path to her ground floor flat. He watched her unlocking the door with her keys, then turned to Hermione, hating himself for what he was about to do. 'Hermione, I need you to do me a favour, I'd do it myself but she's gone, and there's no appropriate way to approach someone who thinks you're a stranger- Your way seems less, intrusive.' Hermione shot him and perplexed look. He sighed.

'Look, I know this seems unlikely, but there's a possibility that this will be bad for Donna in the long run. All of this is too familiar, I saw it when she looked at me, as though she recognised me but didn't know how-' Hermione's eyes widened, she knew where he was going with this. 'No, I won't do it.'

'Hermione I'm sorry but you have to. If this stays with her, if this triggers even the smallest-'

'Doctor I said no. I can't do it, I won't,' she said, her determination stained with sorrow.

'How could you take this away from her? She saw you, she's even travelled in the TARDIS but it didn't come back. Please, this is her one thing, the only bit she has left of you, can't you just let her keep it?'

He shook his head slowly. 'I wish I could, more than you can imagine, but any trace of me is dangerous. I'd rather her to be alive and have no clue of her past than to die just for a small moment of happiness.'

Hermione looked at him, her brown eyes looking back into his, reflecting his own woe. She gave in. 'Ok, I'll do it, but only if you promise me something.'

'What is it?'

'You can travel to anytime?'

He nodded. 'Will you promise me that you'll go to the day of her death, whenever that is, and restore her memories? Let her know who she is before she goes.'

The Doctor's lips were pulled into a melancholic smile. 'That's why I travel with humans, they think of things that never enter my head. Thank you Hermione, I promise.'

She nodded, returning a watery smile. She then turned from him and walked up to the door to do the deed.

'You will not believe what I've been up to Sean,' Donna said as soon as she was in the door. 'What's happened?' he called from the other room. 'It was completely bonkers! Wait 'til you hear this!' she said, waiting until he was in the hall before telling him, wanting to see his reaction. His footsteps were audible on the carpet, her grin grew, she was practically bursting with the information. Another noise then altered her, it sounded as though someone was at the front door, she turned around, hearing a girl's voice whisper something. She blinked, confused, then turned back around to see her fiancée before her. 'Good evening,' she greeted him.

'What were you about to tell me?'

'What?'

'Something completely bonkers that's just happened?' he asked, reminding her. Donna frowned, being unable to recall saying that. 'Oh, I dunno what you mean, I've just come in from work.'

'Oh, did anything interesting happen there?'

She shrugged, 'not really. Hmm, I had the feeling I had something to tell you but it's completely slipped my mind.'

'Oh, oh well. Can't have been important.' She nodded, having an inkling that it felt important a second ago, whatever it was. She waved it away. 'Yeah, probably not. How're you?'

'Good, why don't you come inside the kitchen? I've put some Shepard's pie on.'

'Ooh lovely,' she replied, following him into the kitchen, disregarding completely the forgotten thought.


	23. Chapter Twenty Two: At the Core the Same

They were silent on the way back home in the TARDIS, Donna's departure having left a damper on things. This was the case until Hermione came up with a theory as to why the Doctor and Crouch so greatly resembled each other when Ron had brought the subject up again. 'I've been thinking about this,' she said. 'You look human but you're not, so maybe you're appearance is based on an existing human.' She received puzzled looks all round. 'What I mean is, because you regenerate, your body changes a lot, so maybe it's basing itself on the biology of a random human being that it picks out and probably scans, and then transfers their biology onto you, rather than creating a whole new human body from scratch every time.'

'So you're saying that all the versions of me are just carbon copies of other people? That there's others out there who's appearance I've unknowingly stolen?'

'Well yes, do you think it's possible?'

'I think you're brilliant!'

They soon reached the Burrow, the Doctor setting the co-ordinates to five minutes after they had left. 'Alright, here we are then, home,' he said, his cheeriness forced. 'Are you sure you don't want to come in for a bit?' Ron asked, already heading out the door. 'You could stay for dinner, I'm sure Mum won't mind, she loves having people over.'

'Thanks for the offer Ron but I think I should get going.'

'Where are you off to now?' asked Hermione.

'I was planning to go for a walk on Mars before Jack called, that's probably where I'll go first,' he said. The others nodded. 'Well good luck,' said Ron. 'You too,' he replied, smiling. They got off, waving goodbye and heading out the door. He turned away, back to the controls. Their voices carried into the TARDIS from outside.

'We're back Mum.'

'That was quick!'

'That's the beauty of time travel.'

The Doctor smiled to himself. He walked around, only seeing now that Harry was still there. 'Harry, aren't you getting off?' he asked, worried that the teen was going to ask to travel with him. 'Yeah I am, but I just wanted to ask you something first,' he said, twiddling his thumbs, this was clearly something he didn't want his friends to overhear. 'I was just wondering, since you can go anywhere, anywhen, if we could go back?'

'To where Harry?' asked the Doctor, having a feeling he knew where the conversation was headed.

'To the very start, to when Tom Riddle was young. If we got rid of him then, made him have an accident or something, we could prevent all of this from happening.'

The Doctor sighed. 'I had a feeling you might say something like that. It's not that simple Harry. Every little thing you alter has consequences, did you ever hear of chaos theory?'

'Yes I know, butterfly's wings flapping can cause a typhoon somewhere else in the world, I get that,' he said, impatiently. 'But surely getting rid of Voldemort before he even becomes Voldemort can only be a good thing?'

'But you _have_ gotten rid of Voldemort Harry, do you really want to go back and do it all again?'

'No I just- The amount of people we've lost in the war Doctor. I would give anything to undo that, and you can.'

The Doctor stood, looking down at the control panel, shaking his head. 'It would change too much. For every problem you erase you create a new one,' he reasoned. Harry stared at him, the bright green eyes dulled somewhat, the scar just visible through a small parting in his fringe. 'I think I could handle any problem if it meant I could be raised by my parents,' he said quietly.

'Harry, I know what loss feels like, I know how much you want to go back but you can't.'

'Why not?' he replied impatiently.

'Because that's not how life works, it's about moving forward not constantly looking back, that's why you can't return to your own personal history in here, the TARDIS won't let you.' Harry stared at the floor, looking glum, and just a little angst ridden. 'I'm the last of my race Harry, the only Timelord left. I've lost my family too, my whole planet is gone. But I can't go back there, and I can't go back and stop Donna from losing her memories.' Harry stared pointedly at the floor, appearing somewhat ashamed now. 'Didn't a wise man once tell you that it does not do well to dwell on dreams and forget to live?'

The teenager looked up. 'That was Dumbledore.' The Doctor nodded. 'Yes, and he was right. This is practically the same, you can't spend all your time mourning those you've lost, you have to appreciate those you still have.' Harry nodded, understanding. 'Voldemort said that both of us are the same, that we keep trying to save everyone, which is why we lose them. Do you think he's right?'

The Doctor pondered this, the memories the Dementor's had raised in him still fresh in his head. Guilt surged through him, seeing the man's point. 'I dunno Harry, do you?'

Harry looked thoughtful, 'Well, if we didn't try to save people who would? And even if we get it wrong sometimes, it doesn't cancel out the times we get it right, I suppose.' The Doctor smiled softly. 'That's a good answer,' he said. Harry smiled too. 'Right, I should let you go to Mars then,' he said. The Doctor nodded.

'Goodbye Harry Potter,'

'Goodbye Doctor.'


	24. Epilogue

He was nearing the end of his visits now, and could feel himself wearing down, his two hearts seeming to reduce their amount of beats. Still, there were things he had to do, more people he had to see. He stepped out of the TARDIS, walking ahead and knocking on the door of the house before him. The paint job had changed since he's last seen it, he also noticed boxes of flowers on the window that he hadn't been there before. He wasn't waiting long on the door step, and he was surprised, though pleasantly so to see who had come out to greet him.

'Wilf,' he said. The old man, who was even older now, looked equally as astonished to see him. 'Doctor! You came! You're here!' he exclaimed. 'You said I'd only see you once more, and that was before Donna's wedding,' he said. 'I know I- I thought that would've been the last time I-'

'Didn't think I'd still be around?' Wilf finished the sentence for him, saving the Doctor the embarrassment. He managed a weak smile. 'Come on in,' Wilf said, stepping aside, permitting the Doctor entry into his home. 'I can't stay long, I'm just here to see Donna.' Wilf nodded. 'Yes. I hoped you would say that. I've been hoping every day since she got the news.' The Doctor gazed at him, finding he had to look even lower than he had on their last meeting, which for him had been no more than twenty minutes ago. 'She'll ill Doctor, really ill.' the old man said, his faded blue eyes sadder than the Doctor had ever seen them. 'It's not right, that I'm still here and she… they're saying its terminal Doctor.'

'I know, that's why I'm here,' the Timelord replied.

Wilfred Mott's eyes widened. 'I know what's meant to happen today Wilf,' the Doctor said his voice grim. 'But I'm not going to let her go without knowing how important she is.'

'Oh Doctor, thank you, thank you so much. I always hoped, but I thought it was just wishful thinking- She's upstairs Doctor, Sean might be up there with her or the kids.'

They walked upstairs, and sure enough there were two teenagers there milling about, a boy and a girl. Donna's husband was there too, Mr. Temple. The Doctor nodded to him, letting Wilf explain that he was an old friend rather then doing the talking himself. The introductions were kept simple and the Doctor entered Donna's room. He had prepared himself, though was still quite unsettled to see his friend tucked up in bed, appearing so thin and frail. 'Who's that?' she said, looking up from her magazine, barely lifting her head. Her voice was much feebler too, a ghost of it's former feisty self. The Doctor forced himself to sound professional as he said: 'Hello Mrs. Temple Noble, I'm the Doctor, I just here to do a small test.'

'What? Dr. Jenson's the only one I deal with-'

'Yes I know but he couldn't come so he sent me instead.'

'I'm not even supposed to get house visits, they're too expensive-'

'Shh, Mrs. Temple Noble, relax, its ok. Don't wear yourself out,' he said, stepping closer to her bed, noting how she was being even more difficult than he anticipated. 'Look mister-'

'Doctor,' he corrected automatically.

'Whatever! You're not going to do anything-'

'Please, this won't take a minute, I promise.'

'Oh yeah? They always say that. That and "you'll just feel a small pinch" before they stab you with a massive needle.'

He smiled slightly, for the first time since his regeneration had begun. 'There won't be any needles, can I sit down on the bed next to you? For the test?'

She huffed loudly. 'Oh alright then, let's get this over with. I will be phoning Dr. Jenson to make sure you're not a phoney,' she said, her throat catching at the end of her sentence. This resulted in a coughing fit, making the Doctor worry, it couldn't end like this, not now, just as he was about to make her remember. She recovered, but lay back on her pillow, worn out. 'Are you ok?' he asked. 'Yes,' she replied, speaking softer now, her signature edge faded. 'Get on with it,' she said, punctuating the end of her sentence with a much smaller cough.

'Ok, I'm going to put my hands on both of your temples alright?'

'What sort of mad test is that?' she said, the tickle still evident in her throat when she spoke.

The Doctor ignored this and placed his fingers on the sides of her head. She didn't move, he saw her brow furrow just before he closed his eyes and transferred her memories from his brain back into her own. When he opened them again she was no longer frowning. He took his hands away and her eyes lit up with realisation. 'Doctor!' she gasped with her small voice. 'Donna,' he replied, so relieved to once again have her know who he was. Before she could say anymore he pulled her into the tightest hug, forgetting that he might've been hurting her, as thin as she had become. 'Oh I've missed you so much Donna, you have no idea.' He said to her, before pulling away.

'Doctor, I can't believe you're here I-'

Her expression became suddenly fierce. 'You erased my memories you pillock!' she said, her voice reaching its highest volume which wasn't much above a whisper, and hitting him, her fist no longer able to make much of an impact. 'I know I know, and I'm so sorry, but I had to. You wouldn't have lasted this long if I hadn't done it.'

She looked at him, seeming to realise what his return meant without him having to say anything. 'This is the last time I'm ever going see you isn't it? I won't be around for much longer,' she said.

'If it makes you feel any better I'm on the way out too.'

'What? You're not- You're not dying are you Doctor?'

He shook his head, and swallowed. 'No, I'm regenerating. I'll have a new face soon,' he said, smiling slightly once again. 'So I'm just saying goodbye to everyone, before I go.'

'Oh Doctor,' she said, taking his hands in hers. 'Have you seen Rose yet?'

'I'm on the way to her soon.'

'Good, that's great,' she said, nodding. 'Did you find someone else to travel with? After me?'

'No, you were the last one.'

'Why? Why didn't you find anyone else?' she said, almost scolding him.

'I didn't think it was a good idea. I didn't want to put anyone else through what I had to put you through.'

They gazed at each other, Donna absentmindedly stroking the Doctor's hand with her thumb.

'Look at us, I'm so sick and weak-'

'And old,' he added, not sure where his humour was coming from, it must've had something to do with his old companion's presence. 'Oi!' she responded, her voice croaking somewhat. 'But you, you look exactly the same as when I first met you.' There was a pause as he took this in. 'It would've been nice, if I could've just become a Timelord without my head exploding. I could've kept you company and you wouldn't have had to worry about me dying on you. We could've regenerated together,' she said, smiling softly at the thought.

'But look at everything you got instead Donna, your husband, your kids.' A smile lit up her tired eyes. 'I can never have that.' Silence fell between them, brown eyes stared into blue, unspoken regrets passing between them. Donna pulled him close this time, and he was gentler, remembering her body's delicate state. He felt something drip onto his collar and knew she was crying. He swallowed the lump that was forming in his own throat and reluctantly pulled away from her. 'I should go now, it's your family that need to be with you,' he said, his voice strained with the weight of his grief. Donna nodded. 'Goodbye Donna Noble,' he said, taking her hand one last time. 'Goodbye Doctor,' she replied, tears rolling down her cheeks. He got up from the bed and turned away. He had reached the door when he heard her small voice speak once more.

'Oi Spaceman.'

He turned, the familiar nickname causing a jolt in his stomach.

'Yes?'

'You'll be alright?'

He swallowed again, really having to try hard to push down that persistent lump that continued to ascend in his throat. 'I always am,' he managed to say.

'So am I,' she replied with a watery smile, a deep melancholy in her eyes that he was sure he shared.

Hermione watched as the train sped away, Rose waving back at her and Ron. It broke her heart and filled her with joy simultaneously, seeing her first child on the Hogwarts Express when she felt like she had only been on it herself mere days ago. She held tightly to her son Hugo's hand, glad that at least one of them was still with her. She glanced over at Harry and Ginny who were now trying to placate Lily who was crying, complaining that she wanted to go to Hogwarts too. She smiled at Ron, who put his arm around her and gently squeezed her shoulder. 'She'll be alright, she's got James and Albus to keep and eye out for her,' he reassured her. 'I know, it's just so strange to see her go, and she won't be home until Christmas.'

'Yeah, we'll finally get some peace and quiet in the house.' Hermione shook her head at him, but couldn't help smiling. The last carriage of the train pulled out, allowing them to see the other side of the platform. Hermione glanced across, looked away, then performed a double take. Standing there, across the train tracks and close to the edge of the other platform was a man she recognised, though he didn't look a day older than the last time she'd seen him. Her jaw dropped. She let go of her son's hand and gently tapped Ron. 'Ron, it's the Doctor!' He turned, trying to follow her eye line. Her words had alerted Harry and Ginny too. They all gazed at the man who stood so far away. 'Who's that Mum?' asked Hugo. 'An old friend of ours,' she replied. 'What do you think he's doing here?' asked Harry. 'I don't know,' Hermione replied, but on some deeper level, she thought she did.

The Doctor watched the families on the other platform which was beginning to clear. It was Hermione who spotted him first and drew the other's attention to him. He looked at them, wondering what had made the Weasley's name their daughter Rose. He wished there was some way he could tell Hermione that he hadn't forgotten the promise he's made her, and that had just fulfilled it, but he couldn't so he made do with returning their waves to them and smiling slightly, though even that was an effort. He took one last look at the two couples, each with a child between them, before turning on his heel and getting back into the TARDIS. All was well indeed, but not for him, not for the lonely Timelord.

**Author's Note:** So there we have it, the end. I hope you've enjoyed it. Please feel free to leave your thoughts on my little story in the form of a review (even if you didn't like it.) Thanks to everyone who had been reading and reviewing so far, you're all wonderful!


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